i 

i 

I 

OFFICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 


OF   THE 


SEVENTH   CONVENTION 


OF  THE 


Tf ans-fflississippi  Gommereial  Gongress. 


HELD  AT 


ST.    LOUIS,    MO., 
NOVEMBER    26,   27,   28   AND    30,    1894. 


STENOGRAPHIC  REPORT  BY 

CHARLES  FREEMAN  JOHNSON, 

OFFICIAL  REPORTER,  SAN  FRANCISCO,  CALIFORNIA. 


ST    LOUIS: 
E.  J.  Schuster  Printing  Co. 

1894. 


MF3C6S 

T? 


Plan   qf  Permanent  Organization 

As  Reported    by   the   Executive  Committee,  and 

Amended  and  Adopted  by  the  Congress, 

St.  Louis,  November  28th,  1894. 


The  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress  shall  be  governed  by 
the  following  rules  : — 

1st.  The  Congress  shall  meet  at  such  time  as  shall  be  fixed  by  the 
Executive  Committee,  not  less  frequently  than  once  each  year,  and  at 
such  place  as  shall  be  designated  by  the  previous  Congress. 

2nd.  The  permanent  officers  of  this  Congress  shall  consist  of  a  Pres- 
ident ;  a  Vice-President  to  be  named  by  each  State  and  Territory  ;  a  Sec- 
retary ;  a  Treasurer  who  shall  be  elected  by  the  Executive  Committee, 
and  such  assistants  to  the  Secretary  as  the  Executive  Committee  shall 
deem  necessary  ;  an  Executive  Committee  consisting  of  two  members  who 
shall  be  selected  by  the  delegations  of  their  respective  States  and  Ter- 
ritories, one  of  whom  shall  be  elected  at  each  session  for  a  term  of  two 
years,  except  at  the  present  meeting,  at  which  time  two  shall  be  elected, 
one  of  whom  shall  serve  for  one  year  and  one  for  two  years. 

The  President  shall  be  ex-officio  member  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee. 

3d.  The  election  of  officers  shall  take  place  at  eleven  a.  m.  of  the 
second  day  of  the  session,  previous  to  which  time  the  Committee  on 
Permanent  Organization  shall  make  its  report. 

4th.  The  Executive  Committee  shall  select  its  own  chairman,  who 
shall  be  its  executive  officer,  and  who  shall  have  charge  of  the  interests 
of  the  Congress  between  its  sessions ;  arrange  all  preliminaries  for  its 
meetings,  and  take  such  steps  as  the  committee  may  deem  proper  to 
bring  its  action  to  the  attention  of  the  United  States  Congress  and 
urge  the  adoption  of  the  measures  which  this  Congress  may  approve. 

The  funds  of  the  Congress  may  be  used  to  defray  the  necessary 
expenses  thus  incurred,  provided,  however,  that  in  no  case  shall  such 
expenses  be  incurred  unless  the  funds  are  in  hand  to  meet  them. 

otb.  In  order  to  provide  for  such  expenses,  the  annual  dues  for 
membership  shall  be  as  follows :  from  every  business  organization  the 


v  Plan  of  Organization. 

sum  of  ten  dollars,  which  shall  entitle  it  to  one  delegate,  and  five  dollars 
for  each  additional  delegate.  Any  delegate  appointed  by  the  Governor 
of  any  State  or  Territory,  the  Mayor  of  any  city,  or  the  Executive 
officer  or  officers  of  any  county  shall  pay  five  dollars. 

Should  the  amount  thus  contributed  prove  to  be  more  than  is  needed 
to  defray  the  legitimate  expenses  of  the  Congress,  the  dues  shall  be 
reduced  at  the  next  Congress  to  such  sum  as  may  be  found  adequate 
to  provide  for  such  expenses. 

6th.  The  following  shall  be  the  basis  of  representation:  — 

The  Governor  of  any  State  or  Territory  may  appoint  ten  delegates ; 
the  Mayor  of  each  city  one  delegate,  and  an  additional  delegate  for 
each  five  thousand  inhabitants ;  provided,  however,  that  no  city  shall 
have  more  than  ten  delegates ;  each  county  may  appoint  one  delegate 
through  its  Executive  officer ;  every  business  organization  one  delegate, 
and  an  additional  delegate  for  every  fifty  members,  provided,  however, 
that  no  such  organization  shall  be  entitled  to  more  than  ten  delegates. 

7th.  Each  delegate  present  shall  be  entitled  to  one  vote,  provided 
that  no  State  shall  have  more  than  thirty  votes. 

8th.  These  rules  may  be  amended  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  any  suc- 
ceeding Congress. 

9th.  The  Executive  Committee  shall  have  power  to  fill  vacancies. 


OFFICERS 


—  OF  — 


The  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress, 

ELECTED  AT  ST.  LOUIS,  NOV.,  1894. 


President Hon.  Geo.  Q.  Cannon,  Salt  Lake,  Utah. 

Secretary C.  F.  Wkller,  Omaha,  Nebraska. 

Assistant  Secretary  and  Treasurer W.  H.  Culmer,  Salt  Lake,  Utah. 

Chairman  of  Executive  Committee H.  E.  Whitmore,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Secretary  of  Executive  Committee W.  H.  Culmer,  Salt  Lake,  Utah. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS  AND  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

Vice-President.  Executive  Committee. 

ALASKA Gov.  James  Sheakley,  J.  C.  Green,  Golvin  Bay,  Alaska, 

Sitka.  E.  O.  Sylvester,  Sitka. 

ARIZONA W.  J.  Cheyney,  T.  G.  Comstock,  Tucson. 

Tombstone.  J.  H.  Vanderwerker,  Prescott. 
ARKANSAS.... Hon.  G.  W.  Sappington,      J.  T.  W.  Tellar,  Little  Rock. 

Little  Rock.  George  Sengle,  Fort  Smith. 
CALIFORNIA  ..Hon.  Wm.  Johnston,  A.  E.  Castle,  San  Francisco. 

Courtland.  Geo.  W.  Parsons,  Los  Angeles. 
COLORADO.... A.  C.  Fisk,  J.  L.  Johnson,  Denver, 

Denver.  I.  N.  Stevens,  Denver. 

IDAHO Geo.  M.  Parsons,  Walter  Hoge,  Paris, 

Boise  City.  Frank  A.  Fenn,  Boise  City. 
INDIAN  TER..DR.  D.  M.  Hailey,  Gibson  Morgan,  Tahlequah, 

Krebs.  W.  H.  Walker,  Purcell. 

IOWA Lon  Bryson,  Bart  E.  Linehan,  Dubuque, 

Davenport.  W.  A.  Kifer,  Sioux  City. 

KANSAS Hon.  L.  D.  Lewelling,         W.  R.  Savage,  Wellington, 

Wichita.  W.  H.  Toothaker,  Kansas  City, 
LOUISIANA... Hon.  D.  M.  Kilpatrick,        John  Van  Dorp,  New  Orleans, 

New  Orleans.  Breedlove  Smith,  New  Orleans. 
MINNESOTA  ..Hon.  C.  E.  Flandran,  David  H,  Gilmore,  Minneapolis. 

St.  Paul.  E.  C.  Gridley,  Duluth. 
MISSOURI  —  Hon.  Jno.  L.  Bittinger,      H.  R.  Whitmore,  St.  Louis, 

St.  Joseph.  Wm.  G.  Boyd,  St.  Louis. 

MONTANA Hon.  John  E.  Rickards,       Thos.  G.  Merrill,  Helena, 

Helena.  W.  A.  Clark,  Butte. 
NEBRASKA.... R.  W.  Richardson,  Hon.  W.  J.  Bryan,  Lincoln, 

Omaha.  Hon.  L.  H.  Bradley,  Omaha. 


vi  Officers  —  Continued. 

Vice-President.  Executive  Committee. 

NEVADA Hon.  D.  R.  Collins,  B.  F.  Leete,  Reno, 

Cherry  Creek.  Con.  A.  Ahern,  Carson  City. 
NEW  MEXICO. Hon.  L.  Bradford  Prince,  T.  J.  Helm,  Santa  Fe, 

Santa  Fe.  L.  Bradford  Prince,  Santa  Fe. 
N.  DAKOTA... Hon.  E.  C.  D.  Shortridge,  F.  T.  Wallace,  Bismarck, 

Bismarck.  N.  G.  Larimore,  Larimore. 
OKLAHOMA... C.  G.  Jones,  Sidney  Clark,  Oklahoma  City, 

Oklahoma  City.  O.  A.  Mitscher,  Oklahoma  City. 

OREGON Hon.  Geo.  P.  Frank,  Ernest  P.  Dosch,  Portland, 

Portland.  M.  G.  Butterfield,  Portland. 
S.  DAKOTA.... Hon.  Stephen  E.  Wilson,    Hon.  J.  R.  Brennan,  Rapid  City, 

Hot  Springs.  William  Selbie,  Deadwood. 

TEXAS Lewis  Hancock,  Thomas  Randolph,  Sherman, 

Austin.  Thos.  J.  Ballinger,  Galveston. 

UTAH Hon.  C.  C.  Goodwin,  Hon.  L.  W.  Shurtleff,  Ogden, 

Salt  Lake  City.  W.  H.  Culmer,  Salt  Lake  City. 
WASH'GT'N...Hon.  Eugene  Semple,  Hon.  W.  C.  Jones,  Spokane, 

Seattle.  A.  L.  Black,  New  Whatcom. 
WYOMING.... James  Terrill,  Robt.  Foote,  Sr.,  Buffalo, 

Sheridan.  Elwood  Meade,  Cheyenne. 


ADVISORY  COMMITTEE  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

A.  E.  Castle,  San  Francisco,  California.       A.  C.  Fisk,  Denver,  Colorado. 
W.  J.  Bryan,  Lincoln,  Nebraska.  Bart  E.  Linehan,  Dubuque,  Iowa. 

L.  B.  Prince,  Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico. 


Official  Stenographer,  Charles  Freeman  Johnson,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 


List  of  Delegates  appointed  to  the  St.  Louis  convention  of  the 
Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress, by  Governors,  Mayors,  County 
Commissioners  or  Judges  and  Commercial  Organizations  in  24  States 
and  Territories,  including  Alaska,  west  of  the  Mississippi  river. 

alaska.  Arizona  —  Continued. 

J.  C.  Green,  Golvine  Bay.  Judge  T.  H.  Bunch,  St.  John's. 

J.     S.   White,  40  mile  Creek,  Yukon  Chas.  T.  Hayden,  Tempe. 

River.  H.  C.  Boone,  Phoenix. 

Sylvester  Watts. 

Amz0NA-  Samuel  Ford. 
Dr.  Theodore  B.  Comstock,  Tucson. 
F.  H.  Newell,  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  Arkansas. 

Washington,  D.  C.  Geo.  T.  Sparks,  Ft.  Smith. 

W.  J.  Cheney,  Tombstone.  Harry  E.  Kelley,  Ft.  Smith. 

Brewster  Cameron,  Tucson.  S.  P.  Day,  Ft.  Smith. 


Delegates. 


vn 


Arkansas  —  Continued. 
George  Sengel,  Ft.  Smith. 
J.  H.  Clendening,  Ft.  Smith. 
Henry  Strother,  Ft.  Smith. 
James  M.  Bohart,  Bentonville. 

A.  J.  Neimeyer,  Gurdon. 
S.  A.  Strauss,  Gurdon. 
J.  R.  Best,  Gurdon. 

L.  Werner,  Gurdon. 

Dr.  W.  H.  Barry,  Hot  Springs. 

W.  J.  Little,  Hot  Springs. 

Col.  Ed.  Hogaboom,  Hot  Springs. 

L.  H.  McGill,  Bentonville. 

B.  D.  Williams,  Little  Rock. 
G.  R.  Brown,  Little  Rock. 
Allan  Kennedy,  Ft.  Smith. 
H.  L.  Monroe,  Ft.  Smith. 
Jesse  Taylor,  Yellville. 
Robt.  King,  Harrison. 

Hon.  R.  B.  Weaver,  Rally  Hill. 
J.  A.  C.  Blackburn,  Rogers. 
Geo.  P.  Williams,  Ft.  Smith. 
G.  H.  Scruton,  Ft.  Smith. 
R.  B.  Wilson,  Ft.  Smith. 
J.  T.  W.  Tillar,  Little  Rock. 

C.  S.  Collins,  Little  Rock. 

G.  W.  Sappington,  Little  Rock. 
Geo.  H.  Saunders,  Little  Rock. 
A.  S.  Kilgore,  Little  Rock. 

CALIFORNIA. 

J.  M.  Elliott,  Los  Angeles. 

Hon.  John  R.  Mathews,  Los  Angeles. 

John  M.  Crawley,  Los  Angeles. 

W.  S.  Allen,  Los  Angeles. 

A.  E.  Castle,  San  Francisco. 

T.  J.  Parsons,  San  Francisco. 

Chas. Freeman  Johnson, San  Francisco. 

Hugh  Craig,  San  Francisco. 

Capt.  W.  L.  Merry,  San  Francisco. 

T.  W.  Van  Siecklen,  San  Francisco. 

J.  A.  Filcher,  San  Francisco. 

Evan  J.  Coleman,  San  Francisco. 

Will  E.  Fisher,  San  Francisco. 

Geo.  Morrow,  San  Francisco. 

Gen.  W.  H.  Dimond,  San  Francisco. 

J.  W.  Henderson,  Eureka. 

A.  Berding,  Ferndale. 

O.  H.  Spring,  Areata. 

J.  M.  Eddy,  Eureka. 

Hon.  A.  Caminetti,  San  Francisco.  ' 

Frank  Dalton,  San  Francisco. 


California  —  Continued . 
Juda  Newman,  San  Francisco. 
Wm.  Dusbach,  San  Francisco. 
C.  S.  Laumeister,  San  Francisco. 
H.  Sinsheimer,  San  Francisco. 
Col.  A.  G.  Gassen,  San  Diego. 
M.  German,  San  Diego. 
W.  E.  Howard,  San  Diego. 
Chas.  H.  Bailey,  Los  Angeles. 
Chas.  Green,  Los  Angeles. 
J.  H.  Allen,  Los  Angeles. 
Thos.  R.  Francis,  Los  Angeles. 
J.  C.  Van  Blarcom,  Los  Angeles. 
Hon.  E.  W.  Davis,  Santa  Rosa. 
A.  P.  Roach,  Watsonville. 
Geo.  A.  Pippy,  San  Francisco, 
Hon.  Wm.  Johnston,  Courtland. 
David  Lubin,  Sacramento. 
Wm.  Niles,  Los  Angeles. 
E.  S.  Heller,  San  Francisco. 
W.  E.  Howard,  San  Diego. 
Thos.  G.  Merrill,  San  Francisco. 
Ed.  H.  Benjamin,  San  Francisco. 
Hugh  A.  Crawford,  San  Francisco. 
M.  J.  Donovan,  San  Francisco. 
W.  N.  Miller,  San  Francisco. 
Robt.  Smilie,  San  Francisco. 
John  Tuttle,  San  Francisco. 
A.  Jackson,  San  Francisco. 
Chas.  C.  Terrill,  San  Francisco. 
W.  A.  Kenney,  Oakland. 
S.  B.  Boyce,  Oakland. 
James  P.  Taylor,  Oakland. 

E.  J.  Murphy,  Oakland. 

Mrs.  A.  J.  Wedderburn,  Oakland. 

A.  J.  Wedderburn,  Oakland. 
Edw.  Mallinckrodt,  Los  Angeles. 
James  0.  Churchill,  Los  Angeles. 

F.  W.  Schnurte,  Los  Angeles. 
Chas.  Clarke,  Los  Angeles. 
Geo.  W.  Parsons,  Los  Angeles. 
C.  H.  Smith,  Los  Angeles. 
Chas.  M.  Park,  Los  Angeles. 

B.  G.  Farrar,  Los  Angeles. 
Geo.  H.  Goddard,  Los  Angeles. 
S.  W.  Fordyce,  Los  Angeles. 
Mrs.  H.  Z.  Roach,  Watsonville. 
Mrs.  E.  S.  Johnston,  Courtland. 
John  Ringen,  San  Diego. 

A.  H.  Handlan,  Los  Angeles. 
J.  W.  Phillips,  Los  Angeles. 
A.  C.  Stewart,  Los  Angeles. 


Vlll 


Delegates. 


COLORADO. 

Capt.  Geo.  W.  Thatcher,  Aspen. 
Hon.  R.  V.  H.  Hanson,  Denver. 

0.  D.  Banks,  Denver. 

Hon.  Wm.  E.  Pedrick,  Denver. 
Hon.  John  F.  Shafroth,  Denver. 
Col.  A.  C.  Fisk,  Denver. 
Mrs.  G.  H.  Warren,  Denver. 
Hon.  T.  M.  Patterson,  Denver. 
Col.  R.  E.  Goodell,  Denver. 
Hon.  E.  A.  Smith,  Denver. 
Hon.  I.  L.  Johnson,  Denver. 
Miss  Phoebe  Couzins,  Denver. 
Geo.  F.  Currier,  Greeley. 
J.  D.  Hooper,  Aspen. 
Mrs.  J.  F.  Shafroth,  Denver. 
J.  W.  Deane,  Denver. 

1.  N.  Stevens,  Denver. 

Mrs.  Mary  E.  Stoddard,  Boulder. 
C.  E.  Smith,  Colorado  Springs. 
E.  E.  Vail,  Las  Animas. 
Jas.  W.  Twitchell,  Montrose. 
W.  T.  McGarvey,  Telluride. 
M.  Finnerty,  Denver. 
Halsey  M.  Rhoads,  Denver. 
Wm.  Stoddard,  Denver. 
M.«T.  Chestnut,  Durango. 
G.  H.  Gem,  Durango. 
H.  T.  Cook,  Durango. 

IDAHO. 

C.  Bunting,  Blackfoot. 

Ben  Rich,  Rexburg. 

John  Donaldson,  St.  Anthony. 

Wm.  Budge,  Paris. 

W.  B.  Heyburn,  Osborne. 

Albert  Hagan,  Coeur  d'Alene  City. 

C.  L.  Hetman,  Rathdrum. 

S.  L.  Tipton,  Boise. 

W.  G.  Barney,  Banner. 

A.  B.  Clark,  Mountain  Home. 

Franklin  S.  Bramwell,  St.  Anthony. 

Richard  F.  Jardine,  Rexburg. 

Arthur  Budge,  Paris. 

R.  F.  Buller,  Hailey. 

INDIAN   TERRITORY. 

G.  B.  Denison,  South  McAlester. 
Fielding  Lewis,  South  McAlester. 
James  Elliott,  South  McAlester. 
J.  S.  Truitt,  Afton. 
John  J.  Hubbard,  Afton. 


indian  territory  —  Continued. 
Col.  H.  H.  Hubbard,  Afton. 
Gideon  Morgan,  Tahlequah. 

D.  M.  Hailey,  Krebs. 
W.  H.  Walker,  Purcell. 

IOWA. 

W.  P.  Brady,  Cedar  Rapids. 

F.  W.  Faulkes,  Cedar  Rapids. 

Hon.  J.  M.  Terry,  Cedar  Rapids. 

J.  P.  Melcher,  Burlington. 

J.  W.  Murphy,  Burlington. 

Aug.  Schlapp,  Burlington. 

Isaac  J.  Dodd,  Burlington. 

Hon.  Albert  Head,  Des  Moines. 

Hon.  Wm.  G.  Kent,  Ft.  Madison. 

Carl  E.  Kuehnle,  Denison. 

Ira  J.  Alder,  Iowa  City. 

Hon.  Calvin  Manning,  Ottumwa. 

H.  E.  Hull,  Williamsburg. 

Chas.  L.  Gilchrist,  Des  Moines. 

Thos.  Arthur,  Logan. 

Hon.  S.  F.  Smith,  Davenport. 

Louis  Harbach,  Des  Moines. 

W.  H.  Bowman,  Waverly. 

Del.  C.  Huntoon,  Dubuque. 

A.  W.  Irwin,  Sioux  City. 

Hon.  Wm.  Groneweg,  Council  Bluffs. 

M.  F.  Rohrer,  Council  Bluffs. 

A.  C.  Graham,  Council  Bluffs. 

W.  J.  Jameson,  Council  Bluffs. 

John  W.  Paul,  Council  Bluffs. 

Hon.  S.  F.  Smith,  Davenport. 

Capt.  Lon  Bryson,  Davenport. 

Frank  Trimble,  Council  Bluffs. 

J.  G.  Hutchinson,  Ottumwa. 

J.  M.  Gobble,  Muscatine. 

Chas.  P.  Birge,  Keokuk. 

Fred  A.  Lischer,  Davenport. 

E.  M.  Sharon,  Davenport. 
Henry  Vollmer,  Davenport. 
J.  R.  Black,  Council  Bluffs. 
Jno.  N.  Irwin,  Keokuk. 
Jno.  H.  Cole,  Keokuk. 

Hon.  Geo.  B.  Burch,  Dubuque. 

Franc  W.  Altman,  Dubuque. 

P.  J.  Lee,  Dubuque. 

D.  J.  Sullivan,  Dubuque. 

Jos.  Kaufman,  Dubuque. 

Gen.  Jas.  B.  Weaver,  Council  Bluffs. 

Robt.  Hufschmidt,  Lansing. 

Wm.  Quigley,  Dubuque. 


Delegates. 


IX 


iowa  —  Continued. 
Bart  E.  Linehan,  Dubuque, 
A.  P.  Gibbs,  Dubuque. 
E.  B.  Tucker,  Wapello. 
W.  J.  Campbell,  Wapello. 
Dr.  A.  C.  Roberts,  Ft.  Madison. 
C.  L.  V.  Craft,  Ottumwa. 
C.  C.  Cole,  Ottumwa. 
S.  D.  Cook,  Iowa  City. 
A.  P.  McGurk,  Davenport. 

KANSAS. 

A.  C.  Shinn,  Ottawa. 

S.  I.  Hopkins,  Ellsworth. 

Hon.  J.  L.  Bristow,  Ellsworth. 

E.  R.  Moses,  Great  Bend. 

A.  E.  Agrelius,  Lindsberg. 

M.  B.  Tomlin,  Goodland. 

Geo.  R.  T.  Roberts,  Morrill. 

W.  E.  Hutchinson,  Hutchinson. 

H.  F.  Sheldon,  Ottawa. 

C.  B.  Hoffman,  Enterprise. 

E.  R.  Ridgeley,  Pittsburg. 

Geo.  M.  Munger,  Eureka. 

W.  R.  Savage,  Wellington. 

J.  T.  Saunders,  Wellington. 

S.  Crane,  Wellington. 

W.  H.  Toothaker,  Kansas  City. 

J.  Burleigh  Johnson,  Topeka. 

J.  C.  Fox,  Atchison. 

S.  H.  Fullerton,  Atchison. 

A.  J.  Harwi,  Atchison. 
Bernice  Clark,  Topeka. 

Hon.  Geo.  T.  Anthony,  Ottawa. 

LOUISIANA . 

Hon.  D.  M.  Kilpatrick,  New  Orleans. 
T.  J.  Woodward,  New  Orleans. 
Albert  Baldwin,  New  Orleans. 
Capt.  A.  A.  Woods,  New  Orleans. 
P.  M.  Schneidau,  New  Orleans. 
Capt.  Chas.  W.  Drown,  New  Orleans. 
James  B.  Day,  New  Orleans. 
J.  M.  Sherrouse,  New  Orleans. 
John  E.  Hall,  New  Orleans. 
John  Van  Dorp,  New  Orleans. 
Breedlove  Smith,  New  Orleans. 

B.  D.  Wood,  New  Orleans. 
Geo.  E.  Sears,  Jr.,  New  Orleans. 
Robt.  McMillan,  New  Orleans. 
B.  S.  Leathers,  New  Orleans. 


MINNESOTA. 

Capt.  Thomas  Sharp,  Duluth. 
Hon.  A.  A.  Harris,  Duluth. 
Hon.  E.  C.  Gredley,  Duluth. 

E.  L.  Danforth,  Minneapolis. 
D.  R.  McGinniss,  St.  Paul. 

C.  R.  Cooley,  Minneapolis. 

MISSOURI. 

St.  Louis. 
Wm.  G.  Boyd. 
W.  T.  Anderson. 

D.  C.  Ball. 
Alonzo  C.  Church. 
Seth  W.  Cobb. 
Nathan  Cole. 

H.  G.  Craft. 
Given  Campbell. 
D.  R.  Francis. 
Louis  Fusz. 
H.  C.  Haarstick. 
Fred.  Hattersley. 
Jerome  Hill. 
Henry  Hitchcock. 
Geo.  A.  Madill. 

C.  D.  LcMure. 

F.  G.  Niedringhaus. 
John  W.  Noble. 
Chas.  F.  Orthwein. 

D.  P.  Rowland. 
Web.  M.  Samuel. 

E.  O.  Stanard. 
D.  P.  Dyer. 
Nathan  Frank. 
H.  R.  Whitmore. 
O.  L.  Whitelaw. 
Geo.  D.  Barnard. 
L.  M.  Rumsey. 
Chas.  F.  Joy. 
Isaac  M.  Mason. 
James  F.  Coyle. 
Louis  Glaser. 

A.  L.  Shapleigh. 
S.  A.  Bemis. 
John  F.  Cahill.       . 
James  Cox. 
Nicholas  R.  Wall. 
Sylvester  Waterhouse. 
Edgar  Miller. 
Charles  J.  Holtcamp. 
J.  E.  McKeighan. 

G.  W.  Brown. 


Delegates. 


Missouri,  st.  louis  —  Continued. 
J.  D.  Bascom. 
J.  C.  Williamson. 
Gist  Blair. 
R.  S.  Brookings. 
M.  Bernheimer. 
T.  B.  Boyd. 
J.  G.  Butler. 
J.  B.  Case. 
W.  H.  Lee. 
L.  L.  Culver. 
Cbas.  M.  Hays. 
I.  W.  Morton. 
Geo.  W.  Parker. 
Wm.  J.  Baker. 
Richard  Shinnick. 
Wm.  S.  Simpson. 
Alex.  Niedringhaus. 
Richard  Walsh. 
Henry  Fairback. 
N.  Waldstein. 
P.  H.  Smith. 
E.  H.  Warner. 
Geo.  T.  Parker. 
N.  H.  Foster. 
H.  N.  Davis. 
R.  E.  Lasher. 
J.  Kaiser. 
H.  S.  Tuttle. 
Col.  Geo.  E.  Leighton. 
Alvah  Mansur. 
E.  A.  Hitchcock. 
Chas.  Claflin  Allen. 
R.  C.  Kerens. 
E.  C.  Simmons. 
H.  F.  Langenberg. 
C.  H.  Smith. 
Goodman  King. 

Kansas  City. 
H.  C.  Schwitzgebel. 
Walter  S.  Dickey. 
G.  M.  Sargent. 
H.  L.  Harmon. 
A.  J.  Vanlandingham. 
Dr.  C.  E.  Edwords. 
Col.  J.  G.  Stowe. 
J.  C.  James. 
J.  C.  Horton. 
Max  Minter. 
Blake  L.  Woodson. 
Frank  Cooper. 
Hon.  W.  S.  Cowherd. 


Missouri  —  Continued. 
Hon.  T.  B.  Bullene,  Kansas  City. 
Hon.  C.  F.  Moulton,  Kansas  City. 
James  C.  McGrew,  Lexington. 
W.  A.  Dallmeyer,  Jefferson  City. 
J.  L.  Nichols,  Trenton. 
David  H.  Harris,  Fulton. 
H.  W.  Salmon,  Clinton. 
L.  H.  Murray,  Springfield. 
M.  R.  Smith,  Farmington. 
W,  C.  Ellison,  Maryville. 
Joseph  S.  Rust,  Kansas  City. 
S.  B.  Cook,  Mexico. 
Chas.  E.  Yeater,  Sedalia. 
John  A.  Knott,  Hannibal. 
Sam.  C.  Henderson,  Joplin. 
Frank  E.  Williams,  Joplin. 
Waller  Young,  St.  Joseph. 
Henry  Weyman,  Joplin. 

C.  O.  Frye,  Joplin. 
S.  I.  Smith,  Joplin. 
W.  H.  Picker,  Joblin. 
Thos.  F.  Lane,  Poplar  Bluff. 
L.  J.  Albert,  Cape  Girardeau. 

D.  A.  Glenn,  Cape  Girardeau. 

F.  W.  Pott,  Cape  Girardeau. 

L.  F.  Klosterman,  Cape  Girardeau. 

Prof.  Courtenay  DeKalb,  Rolla. 

Frank  Hill,  Carthage. 

Albert  Cahn,  Carthage. 

A.  W.  St.  John,  Carthage. 

Hon.  Jno.  L.  Bittinger,  St.  Joseph. 

Col.  John  Doniphan,  St.  Joseph. 

R.  O.  Stauber,  St.  Joseph. 

Hon.  Geo.  C.  Crowther,  St.  Joseph. 

Hon.  C.  F.  Cochran,  St.  Joseph. 

G.  W.  Samuels,  St.  Joseph. 
Maj.  H.  H.  Harding,  Carthage. 
Geo.  W.  Dulaney,  Hannibal. 
Col.  Jno.  H.  Garth,  Hannibal. 
Prof.  Walter  B.  Richards,  Rolla. 
D.  D.  Duggins,  Marshall. 
Thos.  H.  Harvey,  Marshall. 

R.  C.  Home,  Marshall. 
R.  M.  Reynolds,  Marshall. 
Chas.  A.  Calvird,  Clinton. 
Sam'l  A.  Blasland,  St.  Louis. 
Jas.  A.  Reardon,  St.  Louis. 
J.  H.  Babcock,  Moberly. 
C*  C.  Maclay,  Tipton. 
A.  H.  Danforth,  Charleston. 
Jas.  H.  Bethune,  Charleston. 


Delegates. 


Missouri  —  Continued. 
H.  R.  W.  Hartwig,  St.  Joseph. 
R.  M.  Todd,  St.  Joseph. 
John  E.  Lonsdale,  St.  Joseph. 
A.  Hemming,  St.  Joseph. 
Louis  Mutter,  St.  Joseph. 
Joseph  Fountain,  Carterville. 
J.  C.  Stuart,  Webb  City. 
Jesse  A.  Zook,  Webb  City. 
H.  Snodgrass,  Webb  City. 
Frank  Stewart,  Oronogo. 
L.  F.  WatsoD,  Oronogo. 
W.  A.  Snodgrass,  Oronogo. 
P.  H.  Wise,  Moberly. 

D.  S.  Forney,  Moberly. 
W.  C.  Van  Cleve,  Moberly. 
H.  F.  Avery,  Clinton. 

Hon.  Champ  Clark,  Bowling  Green. 

E.  D.  Graham,  Mexico. 
W.  S.  Hathaway,  Mexico. 
J.  B.  Wolfe,  California. 

E.  D.  Anthony,  Fredericktown. 
G.  R.  Gillette,  Marionville. 

J.  Reed  Miller,  Tipton. 

F.  Seager,  Moberly. 

MONTANA. 

H.  I.  Wilson,  Butte. 
Geo.  W.  Irvin,  Butte. 
A.  F.  Bray,  Butte. 

D.  R.  Barlow,  Butte. 
Hon.  C.  P.  Hough,  Butte. 
Joseph  Oker,  Marysville. 
Sam.  Gordon,  Miles  City. 
Lee  Mantle,  Butte. 

S.  T.  Hauser,  Helena. 
Paris  Gibson,  Great  Falls. 

E.  L.  Bonner,  Missoula. 
Jno.  R.  Toole,  Anaconda. 
W.  A.  Clark,  Butte. 

J.  H.  Curtis,  Butte. 
Thos.  G.  Merrill,  Helena. 
E.  0.  Dugan,  Butte. 

NEVADA. 

Hon.  F.  G.  Newlands,  Reno. 
Wm.  McMillan,  Virginia  City. 
I.  C.  C.  Whitmore,  Eureka. 
E.  R.  Dodge,  Reno. 
P.  M.  Bowler,  Jr.,  Hawthorne. 
W.  D.  Jones,  Austin. 
Chas.  Calvin,  Carson. 


Nevada  —  Continued. 
Hon.  T.  J.  Bell,  Belmont. 
Lem  Allen,  Stilwater. 
Alex.  Wise,  Winnemucca. 


NEBRASKA. 

Hon.  Chas.  H.  Sloan,  Geneva. 
L.  H.  Bradley,  Omaha. 
R.  W.  Richardson,  Omaha. 

E.  D.  Stacy,  Omaha. 

D.  A.  McAllister,  Omaha. 
David  Zimmerman,  Arapahoe. 
John  A.  McShane,  Omaha. 
I.  A.  Fort,  North  Platte. 
Oscar  Callahan,  Benkelman. 
Wm.  Reece,  Falls  City. 
W.  H.  Bucholz,  Norfolk. 
Geo.  Hornell,  McCook. 

F.  I.  Foss,  Crete. 

Geo.  E.  Akers,  Gehring. 
Geo.  W.  Frank,  Kearney. 
Dan  C.  Heffernan,  Dakota  City. 
Geo.  Krug,  Omaha. 
H.  A.  Arnold,  Omaha. 
S.  M.  Benedict,  Lincoln. 
J.  G.  Hamilton,  Norfolk. 
W.  F.  Schwind,  Lincoln. 
Prof.  G.  A.  Gregory,  Neligh. 
Hon.  W.  J.  Bryan,  Lincoln. 

NEW   MEXICO. 

T.  J.  Helm,  Santa  Fe. 

Thos.  Guiterras,  Albuquerque. 

Cab  Conway,  Eddy. 

Mrs.  Grant  Rivenburg,  Santa  Fe. 

Mrs.  T.  P.  Gable,  Santa  Fe. 

Mrs.  Jacob  Weltmer,  Santa  Fe. 

Mrs.  C.  L.  Bishop,  Santa  Fe. 

Mrs.  E.  L.  Hall,  Santa  Fe. 

Miss  Stabb,  Santa  Fe. 

L.  Bradford  Prince,  Santa  Fe. 

D.  P.  Carr,  Silver  City. 

Harry  Whigham,  Raton. 

M.  M.  Salazar,  Springer. 

F.  A.  Manzanares,  Las  Vegas. 

H.  P.  McGrorty,  Deming. 

Geo.  P.  Lane,  Eddy. 

Edward  L.  Bartlett,  Santa  Fe. 

Grant  Rivenberg,  Santa  Fe. 

T.  R.  Gabel,  Santa  Fe. 

A.  H.  Harris,  Santa  Fe. 


Xll 


Delegates. 


NORTH   DAKOTA. 

N.  G.  Larimore,  Larimore. 

OKLAHOMA. 

J.  D.  Maguire,  Norman. 
O.  A.  Mitscher,  Oklahoma. 

A.  J.  Sprengle,  Guthrie. 

T.  M.  Richardson,  Jr.,  Perry. 
L.  H.  Jackman,  Newkirk. 
Samuel  Clay,  Tecumseh. 
Geo.  Kerfoot,  El  Reno. 
Edw.  Hochardy,  Enid. 
Chas.  Watson,  Pond  Creek. 
Peter  Brough,  Kingfisher. 
C.  G.  Jones,  Oklahoma. 
Sidney  Clarke,  Oklahoma. 
Geo.  F.  Herriott,  Guthrie. 

OREGON. 

H.  B.  Compson,  Portland. 
M.  G.  Butterfield,  Portland. 
Geo.  E.  Chamberlain,  Portland. 
Napoleon  Davis,  Portland. 
W.  F.  Butcher,  Baker  City. 
Hon.  Geo.  T.  Meyers,  Portland. 

SOUTH   DAKOTA. 

Wm.  Selbie,  Deadwood. 

Hon.  John  R.  Brennan,  Rapid  City. 

Gen.  S.  H.  Jumper,  Aberdeen. 

Hon.  Stephen  E.  Wilson,  Hot  Springs. 

TEXAS. 

Hon.  Wm.  E.  Estes,  Texarkana. 

Gen.  L.  M.  Oppenheimer,  Austin. 

Lewis  Hancock,  Austin. 

O.  M.  Carter,  Houston. 

N.  L.  Mills,  Houston. 

W.  B.  Slosson,  Houston. 

C.  W.  Hahl,  Houston. 

H.  A.  Lloyd,  Houston. 

Henry  Ford,  Brown  wood. 

B.  B.  Paddock,  Ft.  Worth. 
W.  B.  Harrison,  Ft.  Worth. 
J.  B.  Collins,  Ft.  Worth. 
Geo.  Diehl,  Waco. 

J.  L.  LaPrelle,  Waco. 
Ed.  A.  Marshall,  Waco. 
W.  D.  Lacey,  Waco. 

UTAH. 

"  Hon.  W.  S.  McCormick,  Salt  Lake. 
Hadley  D.  Johnson,  Salt  Lake. 


utah  —  Continued. 

A.  Milton  Musser,  Salt  Lake. 

C.  E.  Stevenson,  Salt  Lake. 

Wm.  H.  Rowe,  Salt  Lake. 

Fred.  Simon,  Salt  Lake. 

Geo.  Q.  Cannon,  Salt  Lake. 

C.  C.  Goodwin,  Salt  Lake. 

C.  F.  Earns,  Salt  Lake. 

Col.  D.  C.  Adams,  Salt  Lake. 

Hon.  Frank  Armstrong,  Salt  Lake. 

Col.  T.  G.  Webber,  Salt  Lake. 

Col.  N.  W.  Clayton,  Salt  Lake. 

Isaac  A.  Clayton,  Salt  Lake. 

Hon.  John  Henry  Smith,  Salt  Lake. 

Major  Erb,  Salt  Lake. 

C.  R.  Savage,  Salt  Lake. 

W.  H.  Culmer,  Salt  Lake. 

Miss  Martie  Jones,  Salt  Lake. 

Judge  L.  W.  Shurtleff,  Ogden. 

C.  M.  Brough,  Ogden. 

Hon.  Frank  J.  Cannon,  Ogden. 

H.  C.  Bigelow,  Ogden. 

Hon.  A.  C.  Warner,  Ogden. 

Mayor  L.  Holbrook,  Provo. 

M.  M.  Kellogg,  Provo. 

W.  N.  Dusenbury,  Provo. 

Rudger  Clawson,  Brigham  City. 

J.  M.  Jensen,  Brigham  City, 

Geo.  L.  Farrell,  Smithfield. 

Wm.  Paxman,  Nephi. 

C.  Andrews,  Nephi. 

Hon.  Abraham  Hatch,  Heber. 

Judge  T.  S.  Watson,  Heber. 

H.  S.  Alexander,  Heber. 

Hon.  Henry  Hughes,  Mendon. 

Swens  O.  Nielsen,  Fairview. 

Hon.  Henry  Beal,  Ephraim. 

Wm.  K.  Reid,  Manti. 

John  Hopkins,  Echo. 

T.  R.  Cutler,  Lehi. 

W.  W.  Cluff,  Coalville. 

Will  G.  Sharp,  Scofleld. 

W.  H.  Weed,  Scofleld. 

WASHINGTON. 

Col.  J.  S.  Coolicau,  Port  Angeles. 
John  Cain,  Port  Angeles. 
Alfred  L.  Black,  New  Whatcom. 
G.  H.  Westcott,  Blaine. 
L.  W.  Wellman,  Linden. 
Phil.  A.  Lawrence,  Sumos. 


Delegates. 


Xlll 


Washington  —  Continued. 
L.  L.  Adams,  Spokane. 
Maj.  Eli  Wilkin,  Fairhaven. 
H.  W.  Kinney,  Fairhaven. 
O.  H.  Culver,  Fairhaven. 

F.  H.  Adams,  New  Whatcom. 
E.  W.  Purdy,  New  Whatcom. 
Alex.  Van  Wyck,  New  Whatcom. 
N.  M.  Neeld,  Everett. 

Paul  Whow,  Anacortes. 

Hon.  Henry  Landes,  Port  Townsend. 

J.  S.  Johnson,  Blaine. 

G.  H.  Westerell,  Blaine. 

D.  E.  Durie,  Seattle. 
Eugene  Semple,  Seattle. 
J.  F.  Hale,  Seattle. 

E.  L.  Collier,  New  Whatcom. 
J.  Austin,  San  Juan. 


Washington  —  Continued. 
W.  Finley  Hall,  New  Whatcom. 
Dr.  A.  S.  Oliver,  Olympia. 

WYOMING. 

Robert  Foote,  Sr.,  Buffalo. 
James  Terrell,  Sheridan. 
John  F.  Mail,  Rock  Springs. 
T.  J.  Wyche,  Van  Dyke. 
Wm.  Brown,  Big  Horn. 
Wm.  Hinton,  Evanston. 
Arthur  Sparhawk,  Lander. 
Chas  F.  Tew,  Cheyenne. 
W.  C.  Hall,  Sundance. 
J.  R.  Rollman,  Saratoga. 
Chas.  E.  Carpenter,  Laramie. 
Edward  Gillette,  Sheridan. 


XIV 


Business  Organizations. 


COMMERCIAL   ORGANIZATIONS   APPOINTING    DELEGATES 
TO   THE   ST.    LOUIS   MEETING. 


ARKANSAS. 

amber  of  C 
Gurdon,  Ark.,  Lumber  Mfrs.  Associa- 
tion. 
Hot  Springs,  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

CALIFORNIA. 

Los  Angeles,  Board  of  Trade. 

Eureka,  Humboldt  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce. 

San  Francisco,  Produce  Exchange. 

San  Francisco,  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

San  Francisco,  Miners  Association. 

San  Francisco,  Builders  Exchange. 

San  Diego,  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Oakland,  Board  of  Trade. 

Los  Angeles,  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Los  Angeles,  Cal.  Improvement  Com- 
pany. 

COLORADO. 

Denver,  Chamber  of  Commerce  and 
Board  of  Trade. 

INDIAN  TERRITORY. 

South  McAlester,  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce. 

Afton,  Cherokee  Indian  Citizenship 
Asso. 

Purcell,  Commercial  Club. 

IOWA. 

Davenport,  Business  Men's  Associa- 
tion. 

Council  Bluffs,  Merchants  &  Mfrs. 
Association. 

Keokuk,  So.  Iowa  Wholesale  Grocers 
Association. 

Keokuk  Business  Men's  Association. 

Dubuque,  Board  of  Trade. 

KANSAS . 

Wellington,  Commercial  Club. 
Atchison,  Commercial  Club. 


LOUISIANA. 

New  Orleans,  Chamber  of  Commerce 

and  Industry. 
New  Orleans,  Board  of  Trade. 
New  Orleans,  Cotton  Exchange. 

MINNESOTA. 

Duluth,  Chamber  of  Commerce. 
St.  Paul,  Commercial  Club. 
Minnesota,  Commercial  Club. 

MISSOURI. 

Kansas  City  Commercial  Club. 

Marshall,  Board  of  Trade. 

St.  Louis,  Merchant's  Exchange. 

St.  Louis,  Mercantile  Club. 

Joplin,  Joplin  Club. 

St.  Louis,  Builders  Exchange. 

Cape  Girardeau,  Board  of  Trade. 

St.  Louis,  Lumbermen's  Exchange. 

Carthage,  Commercial  Club. 

St.  Louis,  Furniture  Board  of  Trade. 

St.  Louis,  Commercial  Club. 

NEW  MEXICO. 

Santa  Fe,  Woman's  Board  of  Trade. 
Santa  Fe,  Board  of  Trade. 

OKLAHOMA. 

Guthrie,  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

TEXAS. 

Ft.  Worth,  Chamber  of  Commerce. 
Waco,  Commercial  Club. 

WASHINGTON. 

Port  Angeles,  Board  of  Trade. 
Fairhaven,  Commercial  Club. 
New  Whatcom,  Board  of  Trade. 
Blaine,  Board  of  Trade. 
Seattle,  Chamber  of  Commerce. 


PROCEEDINGS 


OF   THE 


SEVENTH   CONVENTION 


OF    THE  .  /      '        '    > > )     ,      , ,     „ 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress, 


HELD    AT 


St.  Louis,  November  26th.  to  30th.,  1894. 


Monday,  November  26th,  1894. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  at  11  a.  m.,  in  the  Entertainment 
Hall  of  the  Exposition  Building,  by  President  Henry  R.  Whitmore. 

President  Whitmore:  In  accordance  with  the  custom  heretofore 
prevailing,  as  your  presiding  officer  at  the  last  session,  it  becomes  my 
duty  to  call  this  Congress  to  order,  and  I  will  ask  the  Rev.  Dr.  Niccolls 
to  open  the  meeting  with  prayer. 

Rev.  Dr.  S.  J.  Niccolls:  Almighty  God,  our  heavenly  Father,  cre- 
ator and  Lord  of  all,  Thou  buildest  and  guidest  all  things  in  infinite 
wisdom  and  power.  We  should  acknowledge  Thee  in  all  our  wa}^s. 
Thou  madest  man  in  Thine  own  image,  and  Thy  inspiration  of  man 
giveth  to  him  understanding.  Thou  hast  formed  the  earth  for  his 
abode  and  richly  endowed  it  for  his  inheritance,  and  Thou  hast  given 
him  dominion  over  all  creatures.  Thou  hast  made  all  nations  to  dwell 
upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  Thou  hast  opened  to  each  one  its  lot  and 
its  destiny.  We  are  thankful  for  the  light  of  our  inheritance  and  for 
the  blessings  with  which  Thou  hast  crowned  us.  Thou  hast  placed  us 
among  the  nations  and  crowned  us  with  privileges.  Thou  hast  given  to 
us  a  goodly  land,  a  land  of  forests  and  fields  and  of  living  streams,  a 
land  whose  fields  are  fertile  and  whose  hills  and  mountains  are  a 
treasure-house  of  silver  and  gold,  whose  valleys  bear  all  manner  of 
fruits  and  whose  pastures  feed  our  flocks  and  herds.  We  bless  Thee 
for  Thy  goodness  and  we  appeal  to  Thee  that  we  may  not  forfeit  our 
heritage  or  be  false  to  our  high  calling. 


2  Report  of  Proceedings 

And  now,  we  beseech  Thee,  look  with  favor  upon  these,  Thy  servants, 
who  are  assembled  to-day  in  counsel  to  deliberate  concerning  the  mate- 
rial good  of  our  inheritance,  and  fill  them  with  the  spirit  of  wisdom, 
that  justice  and  charity  and  harmony  may  prevail  in  all  of  their  delib- 
erations. May  all  selfish  interests  be  sacrificed  to  the  general  good. 
So  lead  them,  in  their  deliberations,  that  the  result  may  secure  increased 
prosperity  and  large  rewards  to  industry  and  to  honest  toil,  and  that 
each  section  of  the  land,  country,  town  and  city,  may  be  bound  together 
In  bonds  of  mutual  interest,  and  that  each  inhabitant  of  the  land  may 
have  his  due  snare  in  the  prosperity  and  the  welfare  of  all. 

Grant  Thy  protecting  care  to  these,  Thy  servants,  and  as  Thou  hast 
brought- them' hefe  in 'peace  and  safety,  so  keep  them  and  return  them 
to  their  homes. 

We  invoke  Thy  blessing  upon  our  country.  Grant  to  Thy  servants, 
the  people  of  these  United  States,  and  of  the  Commonwealth  and  to  all 
who  make  and  execute  the  laws,  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  of  counsel. 
Plentifully  endow  them  with  Thy  holy  spirit  and  so  direct  them  in  all 
affairs  that  the  prosperity  of  the  land  may  be  assured  and  that  we  may 
dwell  in  righteousness  and  in  peace. 

All  this  we  ask  in  the  name  of  Him  who  said,  Our  Father  who  art  in 
Heaven,  hallowed  be  Thy  name ;  Thy  kingdom  come ;  Thy  will  be  done 
in  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven.  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread  and  for- 
give us  our  trespasses  as  we  forgive  those  who  trespass  against  us. 
Lead  us  not  into  temptation  but  deliver  us  from  evil,  for  Thine  is  the 
kingdom,  the  power  and  the  glory,  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen. 

President  Whitmore  :  As  the  delegates  are  aware,  we  are  assembled 
in  St.  Louis  at  the  invitation  of  the  Merchant's  Exchange.  Its  mem- 
bers desire  to  express  to  you  their  greeting,  through  their  President,  Mr. 
Wm.  G.  Boyd,  whom  I  now  have  the  honor  of  introducing. 

Mr.  Boyd  :  Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention  —  With 
the  welcomes  extended  to  you  by  the  Governor  of  Missouri  and  the 
Mayor  of  our  city,  it  would  seem  that  you  need  no  words  from  me 
to  convince  you  of  our  pleasure  at  your  coming.  There  is  an  eminent 
fitness,  however,  in  a  Commercial  Congress,  of  a  character  as  represen- 
tative as  this,  being  received  by  the  largest  commercial  organization 
in  the  Trans-Mississippi  Section  or  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  On 
behalf  of  the  St.  Louis  Merchants  Exchange,  therefore,  by  whose  invi- 
tation you  have  assembled  here,  I  desire  to  add  a  cordial  greeting  from 
our  commercial  interests,  to  those  which  will  be  tendered  by  the  com- 
monwealth and  the  municipality. 

The  founders  of  our  government  recognized  the  community  of  inter- 
ests existing  between  all  sections  of  this  country  by  incorporating  in 
our  constitution  an  inhibition  against  any  interference  with  the  freedom 
of  commerce  between  the  States.     While  this  Congress,  therefore,  is 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  3 

Trans-Mississippi  in  name,  and  representation,  I  am  sure  it  will  be 
broad  enough  and  wise  enough  to  see  that  one  section  of  this  country, 
great  as  it  is,  cannot  prosper  without  benefiting  all  others,  nor  can  one 
be  injured  without  affecting  every  other  (applause). 

I  can  say  nothing  in  this  presence  that  would  give  you  any  more 
comprehensive  idea  of  the  importance  of  the  commercial  interests  of 
this  country.  You  are  well  aware  that  if  they  do  not  flourish  the 
country  cannot  prosper.  The  great  political  parties  of  to-day  are 
divided  on  economic  issues,  rather  than  on  principles  of  government, 
and  it  begins  to  look  as  if  economic  questions  are  about  to  divide  in 
twain  the  parties  themselves.  It  is  difficult,  in  fact  impossible,  in  this 
age  to  fix  the  line  of  demarcation  between  economic  principles  and 
political  tenets.  It  is  evident  that  neither  indecision  on  the  one,  nor 
fear  of  trespassing  on  the  domain  of  the  other,  will  deter  this  assem- 
blage from  giving  free  expression  to  its  views.  I  shall  not  attempt, 
however,  to  forecast  your  action  nor  presume  to  circumscribe  it.  This 
is  a  free  country,  where  freedom  of  speech  is  permitted  and  the  free- 
dom of  the  press  respected  (applause). 

The  high  grade  of  the  personnel  of  this  Congress  is  a  sure  guaranty 
that  its  delegates  represent  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  the  States  and 
communities  whence  they  come.  That  fact,  together  with  the  unex- 
pected and  almost  revolutionary  character  of  the  late  elections  which 
are  still  fresh  in  the  public  mind,  lend  augmented  and  unusual  interest 
to  your  deliberations. 

That  your  proceedings  may  be  harmonious,  your  conclusions  wise, 
their  influence  great  and  their  effect  beneficial,  is  the  sincere  wish  of 
your  hosts,  in  whose  name  I  again  extend  to  you  a  hearty  western 
welcome.  May  you  carry  to  your  homes  pleasant  recollections  of  our 
city  and  her  people,  and  may  this  Congress  serve  to  bind  still  closer 
together  the  Trans-Mississippi  region  and  its  commercial  metropolis*. 

President  Whitmore:  The_Merchants'  Exchange t  with  its  threes 
thousand  members,  comprises  less  than  one-half  of  one  per  cent  of  the 
population  of  St.  Louis.  The  other  ninety-nine  and  a  half  per  cent 
desire  to  welcome  you  through  their  Mayor  (applause),  and  I  have  the 
honor  of  introducing  the  Hon.  Cyrus  P.  Walbridge,  Mayor  of  St. 
Louis. 

Mayor  Walbridge:  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  —  When 
the  American  people  meet  in  convention  for  the  purpose  of  honestly 
advising  with  each  other  and  reaching  conclusions  concerning  the 
whole  people,  those  conclusions  are  always  right.  They  may  tempo- 
rarily seem  wrong  in  given  localities,  but  when  viewed  in  the  light  of 
that  great  truth,  that  the  good  of  each  depends  upon  the  prosperity  of 
the  whole,  they  are  always  right  (applause).  There  is  no  more  suit- 
able  place  for  this  Congress  to  meet  than  in  this   Trans-Mississippi 


4  Report  of  Proceedings 

metropolis,  this  center  of  social  American  life,  this  focus  of  American 
political  lines,  this  most  American  of  all  American  cities.  Therefore, 
in  the  name  of  St.  Louis,  I  bid  you  a  most  cordial  welcome,  in  the  hope 
and  belief  that  your  deliberations  will  be  so  honestly  patriotic  and  so 
truly  American  as  to  command  the  attention  and  the  approval  of  the 
American  people  (applause). 

President  Whitmore  :  The  great  State  of  Missouri,  the  oldest,  with 
one  exception,  in  the  sisterhood  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  States,  the 
State  which  has  sent  so  many  of  her  stalwart  sons  and  her  fair 
daughters  to  help  develop  those  States  and  territories,  from  which  so 
many  of  you  come,  always  has  a  welcome  for  all  those  who  come  within 
her  borders  (applause).  For  none  is  this  feeling  more  cordial  than  for 
those  who  are  united  to  them  by  such  ties  of  kinship  and  of  mutual 
interest.  In  their  behalf,  I  desire  to  introduce  to  you  Gov.  Stone  of 
Missouri. 

Gov.  Wm.  J.  Stone  :  Mr.  President  —  The  duty  assigned  to  me  this 
morning,  while  a  very  pleasant  one,  is  a  very  simple  one.  It  is  that 
indicated  by  you  of  extending  to  the  delegates  the  welcome  and  the 
hospitality  of  the  State  of  Missouri.  Missouri  is  simply  a  typical 
Western  State  —  in  everything  I  believe  it  can  be  said  to  be  typical 
and  representative.  In  its  great  agricultural  interests  it  stands  identi- 
fied with  the  States  about  us.  It  is  also  one  of  the  great  mining  States 
of  the  Union.  It  is  also  one  of  the  great  manufacturing  States  of  the 
Union,  and  excepting  the  city  of  San  Francisco,  away  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  it  is  the  only  one  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  States  that  has  a  great 
metropolitan  city,  and,  therefore,  there  is  scarcely  an  interest  repre- 
sented here  by  delegates  from  other  States  that  is  not  also  in  some 
measure  represented  by  the  delegates  from  this  commonwealth.  For 
this  reason  the  place  selected  for  your  convention  is  appropriate.  The 
people  inhabiting  Missouri  are  likewise  representative  and  typical,  I 
believe,  not  only  of  Western  manhood  and  civilization  and  Western 
Americanism,  but  likewise  of  the  manhood,  civilization  and  American- 
ism of  all  the  people  of  this  great  Union.  I  do  not  believe  that  the 
people  of  Missouri  are  any  better  or  more  progressive,  or  more  cour- 
ageous, or  more  patriotic,  or  more  hospitable  than  those  of  the  other 
States  having  delegates  upon  this  floor.  But  they  are  like  you,  gentle- 
men, and  all  of  you  —  they  recognize  in  you  men  of  their  own  type  and 
kind,  and  being  Americans,  and  Western  Americans,  I  need  not  assure 
you  that  the  entire  State  extends  to  you  a  most  cordial,  hearty  and 
generous  welcome  to  our  hospitality  (applause). 

You  come  to  discuss  questions  of  great  public  concern  affecting  the 
general  welfare,  and  any  convention  of  that  character  ought  to  and 
will  receive  a  warm  welcome  to  this  city  and  State. 

This  is  a  convention  of  Western  States,  Trans-Mississippi  States.     In 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  5 

one  sense  it  appears  to  be  sectional,  in  that  only  certain  States  are 
entitled  to  representation  in  your  body.  My  fellow-citizens,  I  know  I 
vouch  your  sentiments  when  I  say  that  I  am,  and  you  are  all  of  you, 
entirely  opposed  to  the  spirit,  to  the  idea  of  sectionalism,  if  thereby  it 
is  meant  that  anything  is  to  be  done  unfriendly  or  hostile  to  any  other 
section  of  the  Union  or  to  any  other  State  in  the  Union.  You  represent 
an  empire  in  area.  You  come  to  discuss  from  your  stand-point  great 
questions  that  affect  not  only  your  constituencies,  but  affect  the  entire 
Union.  It  seems  to  me  that  it  is  altogether  appropriate  that  in  the 
broad  spirit  of  patriotism  questions  like  those  affecting  the  currency 
and  irrigation  —  anything  of  that  kind  in  which  you  are  concerned, 
should  be  made  the  subject  of  your  meditations  and  of  your  considera- 
tion and  as  far  as  possible,  of  your  co-operation,  not  with  a  view  of 
securing  an  advantage  over  any  other  section,  or  over  anybody  else, 
but  simply  with  the  one  high  and  patriotic  purpose  of  securing  absolute 
equality  (applause).  I  would  not  have  this  great  State  in  which  I  live, 
to  enjoy  a  single  advantage  over  any  other  State  in  the  Union  which  is 
not  an  advantage  conferred  by  the  God  who  rules  us  or  which  has  not 
been  won  by  the  enterprise  and  courage  of  our  own  people.  I  would 
not  have  any  advantage  conferred  upon  the  Trans-Mississippi  States 
over  our  sister  States  east  of  the  river  or  south  of  us  that  we  are  not 
entitled  to  in  some  way.  What  I  mean  is  I  would  have  no  advantage 
conferred  upon  this  city  or  this  State  or  this  section  of  the  Union  which 
you  represent,  by  legislative  enactment  or  administrative  policy 
(applause).  I  believe,  in  that  spirit,  you  have  come  10  discuss  ques- 
tions affecting  the  public  welfare,  and  believing  so,  1  most  heartily 
approve  of  the  purpose  of  your  convocation. 

I  sincerely  trust  that  your  stay  here  may  be  a  pleasant  one,  as  I  have 
no  doubt  it  will  be.  If  you  shall  go  away  from  this  great  State  of 
ours,  the  metropolis  of  our  State,  and  of  the  States  you  represent, 
without  feeling  that  you  have  been  welcome  here  to  the  hearts  and  the 
homes  and  the  confidence  of  our  people,  then  I  am  sure  it  will  be  the 
only  convention  of  delegates  that  ever  departed  in  that  way. 

My  fellow-citizens  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Valley  States,  we  extend 
to  you  our  hearty  welcome,  we  open  the  doors,  not  only  of  the  city, 
but  of  the  Commonwealth ;  take  what  you  will,  it  is  at  your  disposal 
(applause). 

President  Whitmore  :  It  is  eminently  fitting  that  the  response  to 
these  words  of  welcome  should  come  from  some  one  in  behalf  of  the 
Congress  who  is  neither  a  member  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange  nor 
a  citizen  of  St.  Louis  nor  of  Missouri.  It  was  this  feeling  which 
prompted  an  invitation  to  Gov.  McConnell  of  Idaho  to  respend  to 
these  addresses  of  welcome.  I  have  just  received  a  telegram  from  him 
which  I  will  read : 


6  Report  of  Proceedings 

"  H.  R.  Whitmore,  President  Trans-Mississippi  Congress,  St.  Louis,  Mo.  i 
My  official  duties  here  make  it  impossible  for  me  to  attend  the  meeting. 
Express  my  regrets  to  the  Congress  and  assure  its  members  of  my  earnest 
co-operation  in  carrying  out  any  resolutions  which  they  may  adopt." 

In  the  absence  of  Gov.  McConnell  I  take  the  liberty  of  calling  on 
the  Hon.  Eugene  Seinple,  ex-Gov.  of  Washington  Territory,  to  respond 
in  behalf  of  the  Congress. 

Hon.  Eugene  Semple:  Mr.  Chairman,  Fellow  Citizens  of  the  West  — 
I  have  been  chosen  by  the  Executive  Committee  at  a  late  hour  —  as 
late  as  9  o'clock  this  morning  —  to  take  the  place  of  my  friend  Gov. 
McConnell  of  Idaho,  and  because  I  know  him  so  well  and  have  known 
him  so  long,  and  because  I  know  what  a  splendid  fellow  he  is  and  how 
splendidly  he  can  voice  the  sentiments  of  the  far  West,  I  realize  what  a 
disappointment  for  you  and  for  me  is  his  absence  at  this  time.  Gov. 
McConnell  and  myself  were  boys  together.  We  are  true  citizens  of  the 
far  West  and  in  sympathy  with  the  great  West,  and  probably  I  will  say 
to  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  and  the  assembled  delegates  here,  nearly  what 
my  friend  McConnell  would  have  said,  but  not  being  able  to  say  it 
nearly  so  well. 

Mr.  Chairman,  in  the  name  of  the  clans  that  have  come  out  of  the 
West,  picked  men,  as  you  can  see,  I  return  you  their  thanks  for  the 
kind  words  of  welcome  that  have  been  uttered  from  this  stand.  We 
have  here  assembled  to  attend  to  the  business  of  our  government,  and 
while  we  are  not  here  for  the  purpose  of  demanding  that  anything 
startling  or  radical  shall  be  adopted,  we  are  here  for  the  purpose  of 
demanding  in  the  strongest  and  most  emphatic  terms,  that  this  govern- 
ment shall  be  conducted  in  the  interest  of  the  people,  and  that  it  shall 
be  conducted  in  accordance  with  the  motto  of  this  great  State,  that  the 
good  of  the  people  is  the  supreme  law  (applause).  And  who  shall  he  the 
judge  of  what  is  good  for  the  people,  better  than  the  people  themselves? 

We  are  glad,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  this  convention  has  assembled  in 
the  city  of  St.  Loui3 —  as  has  been  said,  a  great  metropolis  west  of  the 
Mississippi  river.  The  last  session  of  this  congress  was  in  the  city  of 
San  Francisco,  a  great  city  of  the  far  West,  and  I  am  glad  that  this 
congress  has  chosen —  and  I  hope  it  will  continue  to 'choose  for  its  ses- 
sions leading  places,  cities  where  it  will  be  under  healthy  Western  influ- 
ences. Our  public  servants  at  Washington  are  surrounded  by  evil 
influences.  Especially  are  they  surrounded  there  by  magnificence  and 
by  the  evil  influences  of  aristrocratic  institutions.  We  desire  that  this 
convention  shall  be  held  in  cities  where  they  are  surrounded  by  the 
healthy  influences  of  the  West. 

You  have  kindly  told  us  that  your  latch-strings  are  hanging  out,  and 
have  given  us  permission  to  take  hold  of  them.  We  understand  that 
permission  in  its  fullest  sense,  and  in  behalf  of  delegates  assembled,  I 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  1 

will  state  that  we  will  pull  on  those  latch-strings  in  the  same-  spirit  in 
which  the  invitation  has  been  extended  (applause). 

President  "Whitmore  :  Fellow-Delegates  to  the  Congress  —  We  have 
met  here  to-day  to  consult  together  in  regard  to  matters  of  vast  im- 
portance to  the  territory  which  we  have  the  honor  to  represent,  with  a 
view  of  endeavoring  to  form  correct  conclusions  as  to  what  will  best 
promote  its  commercial  interests.  As  to  the  end  in  view  we  are  all 
agreed.  As  to  the  methods  by  which  it  is  to  be  accomplished  we  shall 
doubtless  differ  and  differ  widely,  but  we  will  differ  honestly  (applause). 
No  two  minds  run  in  the  same  groove  or  think  the  same  thoughts.  Men 
are  constituted  differently  mentally  just  as  they  are  physically;  with 
this  distinction,  however,  that  mental  differences  seem  more  capable  of 
adjustment.  Truth  is  many-sided.  No  two  men  see  exactly  the  same 
side  and  no  one  man  sees  all  sides.  The  man  who  thinks  he  sees  it  all 
oftentimes  sees  the  least,  and  the  fellow  who  always  says  he  knows  all 
about  it,  simply  displays  the  density  of  his  own  ignorance  (applause). 
Coming  from  different  sections,  engaged  in  different  pursuits,  sur- 
rounded by  different  environments,  it  is  not  only  necessary  but  natural 
that  we  should  arrive  at  our  conclusions  from  different  stand-points. 
Each  one  catches  a  different  glimpse  of  the  same  truth,  but  in  these 
very  differences  lies  the  greatest  possibility  of  sound  judgment  and 
wise  action.  If  we  will  but  compare  our  honest  convictions  and  learn 
from  each  other's  knowledge  and  experience,  we  shall  have  a  wider 
view,  clearer  conceptions  and  broader  comprehensions. 

It  is  a  matter  of  congratulation  that  we  have  with  us  so  many  of 
our  national  legislators,  that  they  may  hear  the  views  of  business  men 
as  to  what  the  business  interests  of  the  country  require.  Under  all 
forms  of  government  it  is  well  that  those  who  make  the  laws  should 
keep  in  close  touch  and  sympathy  with  the  people,  that  they  may  know 
their  thoughts,  their  wishes  and  their  wants,  and  thus  be  enabled  to 
legislate  for  their  welfare.  But  especially  is  this  more  necessary  for 
both  parties  under  a  Democratic  form  of  government,  where  the  rulers 
are  the  servants  of  the  people  rather  than  their  masters ;  where  every 
man  is  king  by  divine  right,  and  where  the  people  are  not  only  entitled 
to  the  expression  of  their  opinions,  but  to  demand  of  their  representa- 
tives the  promotion  and  protection  of  their  interests  (applause). 

There  is  no  class  in  the  community  whose  opinion  should  have  greater 
weight,  or  who  are  entitled  to  more  consideration,  than  those  who  rep- 
resent the  commercial  interests  of  the  country,  for  upon  commerce 
more  than  upon  any  other  one  agency  the  country  is  dependent  for 
its  development,  its  growth  and  its  prosperity.  Commerce  is  the  very 
life  blood  of  the  nation,  coursing  through  every  vein  and  artery  of  the 
body  politic,  shaping  its  policy  and  determining,  to  a  great  extent, 
its  character  and  its  destiny. 


Report  of  Proceedings 

Commerce  is,  and  always  has  been,  the  forerunner  of  civilization  ;  the 
merchant  ha9  always  been  the  pioneer  in  progress ;  like  John  the  Bap- 
tist, he  has  been  "  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness;  make 
straight  the  way  of  the  Lord  "  —  of  civilization.  Commerce  has  built 
up  our  cities,  our  towns  and  our  villages ;  its  demands  have  called  into 
existence,  as  if  by  magic,  the  greatest  inventions  of  the  age  —  our 
machinery,  our  telegraph,  our  telephone ;  step  by  step  through  various 
stages  it  has  evolved  the  steamship  from  the  rough  canoe  of  the  savage, 
and  the  railroad  from  the  narrow  foot-paths  of  the  beast  of  burden. 
At  its  command  our  mines  yield  their  wealth,  our  fields  bring  forth 
their  fruit,  the  wheels  of  industry  are  kept  in  motion,  and  the  waste 
places  of  the  desert  are  made  to  blossom  as  the  rose. 

It  overcomes  all  obstacles,  defying  wind  and  wave,  and  penetrating 
every  clinie.  It  has  tunneled  mountains,  bridged  rivers,  felled  forests, 
traversed  deserts,  and  girdled  the  earth  with  bands  of  steel  which  bind 
in  indissoluble  bonds  of  brotherhood  the  people  of  a  continent.  It  has 
transformed  the  ocean,  tbat  impassable  gulf  which  had  served  only  as 
a  barrier  between  nation  and  nation,  into  a  great  highway  of  intercom- 
munication, upon  which  »t  sends  forth  its  white-winged  messengers 
laden  with  the  fruits  of  the  earth  and  the  products  of  industry  with 
which  to  bless  and  enrich  the  world  (applause). 

Commerce  extends  its  influence  beyond  the  domain  of  business,  and 
leaves  its  impress  upon  the  character  and  lives  of  the  people.  It  is- 
the  great  leveler  —  the  powerful  ally  of  true  Democracy. 

It  knows  no  distinction  of  race,  or  caste,  or  creed.  It  breaks  down 
the  barriers  which  separate  men  and  brings  its  subjects  together  on 
the  common  ground  of  a  common  manhood,  seeking  and  supplying 
the  wants  of  each  other.  The  merchant  never  stops  to  inquire  into  the 
nationality,  the  social  position,  the  religion  or  the  politics  of  his  fellow 
merchant —  he  may  be  American,  English,  French,  Russian,  German, 
Greek  or  Hottentot ;  he  never  seeks  to  trace  his  ancestry —  he  may  have 
the  bluest  of  blue  blood  flowing  in  his  veins,  or  he  may  have  sprung 
from  the  lowest  ranks  of  plebeian  life  —  it  matters  not ;  he  does  not 
concern  himself  about  his  politics  —  he  maybe  Whig  or  Tory,  Democrat 
or  Republican,  Socialist  or  Populist,  Single-Taxer  of  Free  Silverite ; 
he  never  questions  him  as  to  his  religious  belief  —  whether  he  is  Cath- 
olic or  Protestant,  Jew  or  Gentile,  Mohammedan  or  Buddhist,  whether 
he  believes  in  sprinkling  or  immersion,  in  free  will  or  fore-ordination, 
in  universal  salvation  or  infant  damnation  (applause).  He  may  know 
all  these  things,  but  he  brushes  them  aside  and  forgets  them,  and,  for 
the  time  being,  at  least,  he  realizes  that  the  differences  which  sep- 
arate men  are  superficial,  while  the  agreements  which  should  unite 
them  are  fundamental  —  that  he  has  only  to  scratch  through  the  veneer- 
ing of  race  and  caste  and  creed  to  find  the  solid  timber  of  character, 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  9 

which,  after  all,  makes  the  man  (applause),  and  recognizing  this,  he 
naturally  becomes  broader  in  his  sympathies,  more  liberal  in  his  views 
and  more  charitable  in  his  judgment  (applause).  Commerce  is  also 
the  great  conservator  of  peace  —  the  golden  cord,  the  strongest  link  in 
the  chain,  which  binds  nation  to  nation,  and  section  to  section,  in  the 
bonds  of  common  interest  and  mutual  good-will.  The  interdependence 
of  each  upon  the  other  is  the  surest  guarantee  of  mutual  forbearance. 
Thus,  whatever  tends  to  extend  our  commercial  relations  among  our- 
selves or  with  foreign  countries,  strengthens  the  ties  which  unite,  dim- 
inishes the  possibilities  of  rupture,  and  promotes  prosperity,  civilization 
and  good  fellowship  among  the  people ;  he  who  contributes  to  this  is  the 
benefactor  of  his  country  and  his  race. 

To  assist  in  doing  this,  as  I  understand  it,  is  the  mission  of  this 
Congress,  and  the  earnest  desire  to  accomplish  it  should  be  the  sole 
motive  of  all  our  discussions. 

They  should  be  conducted  not  as  between  competitors  whose  interests 
are  antagonistic,  but  as  between  citizens  of  the  same  country,  whose 
interests  and  destiny  are  in  common ;  not  with  any  feeling  of 
sectionalism,  not  with  the  acrimony  and  partiality  which  too 
often  characterize  political  discussions,  but  as  business  men 
discuss  business  questions,  in  a  business-like  way,  with  that 
unbiased  judgment,  and  dispassionate  spirit  of  inquiry  which  seeks  a 
knowledge  of  facts  for  the  purpose  of  so  applying  that  knowledge  as  to 
reach  wise  conclusions,  and  give  such  expression  to  them  as  shall  com- 
mand alike  the  confidence  of  our  constituents  and  the  respect  and  care- 
ful consideration  of  those  whom  we  have  elected  to  enact  our  laws 
(applause).  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  our  discussions  may  be  conducted 
in  this  manner;  and,  if  we  would  gain  and  retain  the  influence,  the 
support  and  the  hearty  co-operation  of  our  various  business  organiza- 
tions, we  must  be  on  our  guard  lest  we  trench  upon  the  domain  of  party 
politics.  If  the  impression  goes  out  that  this  congress  can  be  used  for 
any  political  purpose  whatever,  its  influence  as  a  commercial  organiza- 
tion will  be  at  an  end  and  its  days  will  be  numbered  (applause).  If, 
upon  the  other  hand,  we  confine  ourselves  to  a  business-like  discussion 
of  the  business  interest  of  the  section  of  the  country  which  we  represent, 
we  may  make  this  congress  a  potential  factor  in  moulding  public  senti- 
ment and  in  securing  such  legislation  as  the  general  welfare  of  our 
people  demands. 

I  know  that  I  utter  the  sentiment  of  all  of  you  when  I  express  the 
hope  that  this  congress  may  thus  be  conducted  and  may  thus  prove  to 
be  the  most  successful  session  thus  far  in  its  history  (applause). 

And  now,  Fellow  Delegates,  the  congress  is  ready  for  business,  and 
the  Chair  awaits  your  pleasure,  after  reading  a  recommendation  from 
the  Executive  Committee  (reading)  : — 


10  Report  of  Proceedings 

"In  order  to  facilitate  the  business  of  the  congress,  the  Executive 
Committee  respectfully  offer  the  following  recommendations: — 

That,  as  soon  as  practicable  after  the  addresses  of  welcome,  the  con- 
gress adjourn  to  half-past  two  o'clock  and  that,  immediately  after  such 
adjournment,  the  delegates  from  each  State  and  Territory  meet  and 
elect  a  chairman  and  a  member  of  the  following  committees :  Creden- 
tials, Rules  and  Order  of  Business,  and  Permanent  Organization,  whose 
names  shall  be  handed  to  the  Secretary  during  the  recess.  Also,  that, 
inasmuch  as  the  Secretary  has  a  complete  list  of  all  delegates  appointed, 
he  be  authorized  to  issue  to  each  of  such  delegates  a  badge  on  applica- 
tion, and  that  this  list  be  recognized  as  the  official  list  of  delegates 
until  such  time  as  the  Committee  on  Credentials  shall  report.' ' 

On  motion  duly  seconded  and  carried,  the  foregoing  recommendations 
were  adopted. 

Gov.  Waite  (of  Colorado-) :  Mr.  Chairman,  this  resolution  will  inter- 
fere somewhat  with  the  delegates  that  have  been  appointed  by  the 
Governor  of  Colorado.  Ten  delegates  were  appointed.  Their  names 
were  forwarded  to  the  Secretary,  but  quite  a  number  of  those  gentle- 
men have  been  unable  to  attend,  and,  in  accordance  with  what  the  Gov- 
ernor supposed  was  his  authority,  he  has  appointed  substitutes.  If 
that  list  can  be  recognized,  it  will  be  handed  immediately  to  the 
Secretary. 

The  Chairman:  Unless  there  is  some  objection,  the  Governor  of 
Colorado  will  have  the  privilege,  which  we  have  recognized  heretofore, 
of  substituting  other  delegates  for  those  who  are  not  able  to  be 
present. 

A.  E.  Castle  (of  California) :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  understand  that 
applies  to  all  delegations. 

The  Chairman:  That  applies  to  all  other  delegations,  unless  the 
convention  orders  otherwise. 

The  Executive  Committee  also  informs  the  congress  that  it  has 
appointed  the  Hon.  W.  A.  Kifer,  of  Iowa,  and  Charles  E.  Edwards,  of 
St.  Louis,  as  Reading  Clerks. 

The  object  of  this  action  was  to  prevent  the  interruption  of  the  Sec- 
retary, and  also  from  the  fact  that  those  gentlemen  have  voices  which 
can  be  heard  anywhere  in  the  room,  as  we  may  know  from  past  experi- 
ence. It  was  thought  best  to  appoint  reading  clerks  to  facilitate  the 
business  and  make  it  more  convenient  to  the  Secretaries  and  more 
agreeable  to  the  congress.  If  there  i3  no  objection,  that  action  of  the 
Committee  will  stand.  The  Chair  hears  no  objection  and  those 
gentlemen  will  serve  in  that  capacity. 

Now,  gentlemen,  the  meeting  is  open  for  any  other  business  you  see 
fit  to  bring  before  it.  If  there  is  no  business  to  be  brought  forward, 
we  will,  acting  under  these  suggestions,  adjourn. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  11 

While  speaking  the  following  was  handed  to  the  chair  (reading) : — 

"The  Merchants'  Exchange  of  St.  Louis  tenders  to  the  delegates 
to  the  Trans-Mississippi  Congress  a  cordial  invitation  to  visit  the 
Exchange  hall,  either  collectively  or  individually,  at  any  time  during 
their  session.     Delegates  will  be  admitted  on  their  badges.' ' 

Also:  "The  Mercantile  Club  extends  a  cordial  invitation  to  the 
members  of  the  congress  to  make  themselves  at  home  there.  The 
badges  will  confer  admittance." 

Hon.  Wm.  Johnston  (of  California) :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  you, 
sir,  that  the  invitations  so  kindly  tendered  this  body  be  accepted,  and 
that  the  thanks  of  this  body  be  returned  to  the  Merchants'  Exchange 
and  the  Mercantile  Club,  and  that  we  attend  in  a  body  or  at  such  time 
as  we  can. 

This  motion  was  seconded  and  carried. 

Hon.  E.  A.  Marshall  (of  Texas) :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  desire  to  know 
how  many  names  shall  be  placed  upon  our  committees  from  each  State. 

The  Chairman  :  The  Chair  will  state  that  under  these  recommenda- 
tions each  State  delegation  is  requested  to  meet  immediately  after 
adjournment  to  elect  a  chairman,  one  member  of  the  Committee  on 
Credentials,  one  member  of  the  Committee  on  Rules  and  Order  of 
Business,  and  one  member  of  the  Committee  on  Permanent  Organiza- 
tion. These  names,  together  with  the  name  of  'the  Chairman  and  the 
name  of  the  State,  are  to  be  handed  to  the  Secretary  during  recess. 

Any  delegate  who  has  not  received  his  badge  will,  upon  applying  to 
the  Secretary,  receive  a  badge  in  exchange  for  his  credentials ;  or  the 
Chairmen  of  the  various  delegations  may  collect  these  Credentials  and 
hand  them  to  the  Secretary,  in  order  that  they  may  be  turned  over  to 
the  Committee  on  Credentials  when  it  is  appointed. 

The  delegates  from  Indian  Territory  will  organize  the  same  as  any 
other  Territory,  appoint  their  Chairman  and  a  member  of  each  com- 
mittee. 

Lon  Bryson  (of  Iowa) :  Mr.  Chairman,  have  you  named  the  Com- 
mittee on  Resolutions? 

The  Chairman:  The  Chair  will  state  that  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee thought  it  advisable  to  defer  the  election  of  a  Committee  on 
Resolutions  until  more  delegates  were  present,  and  it  is  supposed  that 
this  afternoon  or,  at  any  rate,  early  to-morrow  morning,  we  will  be 
able  to  fix  the  number  of  members  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions, 
which  will  be  in  ample  time,  as  they  cannot  get  to  work  until  resolu- 
tions are  offered. 

A.  L.  Black  (of  Washington) :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  that  we  now 
adjourn,  according  to  the  recommendations  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee. 

Senator  Johnston  :   Would  it  not  be  in  order  for  the  Chairmen  of  the 


12  Report  of  Proceedings 

different  delegations  to  announce  where  tbe  delegations  are  to  meet? 
The  California  delegation  will  please  remain  in  their  seats. 

A  Delegate  (from  Missouri):  I  desire  to  ask  one  question  —  sup- 
pose the  member  has  his  credentials,  but  the  Secretary  has  not  his 
name  —  the  member  has  his  badge  —  should  the  member  proceed 
further  to  identify  himself? 

The  Chairman  :  The  Chair  will  state  that,  on  the  presentation  of  cre- 
dentials, if  his  name  is  not  already  on  the  list,  the  Secretary  will  put 
it  there  and  take  his  credentials  and  issue  a  badge,  subject  to  revision 
by  the  Committee  on  Credentials. 

An  office  has  been  provided  for  the  Secretary  in  the  lobby  as  you 
pass  out,  where  you  can  obtain  badges. 

The  motion  to  adjourn  was  then  seconded  and  carried,  and  the  con- 
vention adjourned  until  half-past  two. 


Monday  Afternoon. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  the  chairman  at  2:45  o'clock. 

The  Chairman:  The  chair  will  announce  the  programme  for  this 
evening,  which  has  been  changed  somewhat  in  the  order  of  speakers. 
The  subject  is  "  Irrigation."  The  first  speaker  will  be  Mr.  F.  H. 
Newell,  of  theU.  S.  Geological  Survey,  on  "  The  Water  Supply  of  the 
Rocky  Mountain  Region. " 

The  second  speaker  will  be  Hon.  El  wood  Mead,  State  Engineer  of 
Wyoming  and  president  of  the  National  Irrigation  Congress.  His  sub- 
ject will  be  "  Reclaiming  the  Arid  Lands." 

The  third  speaker  will  be  Hon.  Wm.  E.  Smythe,  editor  of  the 
Irrigation  Age.     His  subject  will  be  "Irrigation  a  National  Issue." 

The  next  speaker  will  be  Judge  J.  S.  Emery,  of  Kansas,  who  is  the 
National  lecturer  for  the  Irrigation  Congress.  His  subject  will  be 
"  Homes  for  Millions  More." 

The  chair  has  also  to  announce  a  change  in  the  programme  for  to- 
morrow evening  on  the  Remonetization  of  Silver.  Gov.  Patterson  had 
been  requested  to  take  part  in  that  discussion  and  had  promised  to  be 
here.  Last  evening  a  note  was  received  from  him  stating  that  his 
daughter  was  seriously  ill,  and  not  expected  to  recover,  and  his  physi- 
cian told  him  that  he  must  not  leave.  Upon  receipt  of  his  letter  a 
telegram  was  sent  to  the  Hon.  Wm.  J.  Bryan  of  Nebraska,  asking  him 
to  take  part  in  that  programme  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Patterson,  which 
he  has  consented  to  do. 

This  programme  will  be  an  address  by  ex-Gov.  L.  Bradford  Prince 
of  New  Mexico,  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  At  half -past  seven 
o'clock  an  address  by  Hon.  Geo.  E.  Leighton,  of  St.  Louis,  which  will 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress. 


13 


be  followed  by  Representative  Bryan  of  Nebraska,  and  the  discussion 
will  be  closed  by  ex-Gov.  Anthony  of  Kansas. 

Congress  is  now  open  for  business. 

Mr.  Black:  Mr.  President,  it  seems  to  me  that  there  is  some  mis- 
understanding as  to  the  various  committees.  The  various  committees, 
as  I  understand  it,  now  are  simply  chosen  by  the  various  delegations. 
They  have  not  been  announced  by  the  Chair,  and  there  is  some  hesita- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  committeemen  to  take  any  step  until  that 
announcement  is  made.  The  first  thing  to  do  will  be  to  get  the  Com- 
mittee on  Credentials  to  pass  upon  the  credentials  of  the  various  com- 
mittees here.  That  work  should  be  commenced  at  once,  and  I  suggest 
that  the  Chair  at  once  announce  those  committees,  so  that  they  can  at 
once  proceed  with  the  duties  that  have  been  assigned  to  them. 

The  Chairman  :  The  Chair  will  state  that  the  Secretary  is  now  pre- 
paring a  list  of  the  committees  as  formed  by  the  different  delegations. 
As  soon  as  that  report  is  ready  it  will  be  submitted  to  the  congress, 
the  place  of  meeting  will  be  announced  and  they  will  be  called  together. 

The  Chair  has  just  been  furnished  by  the  Secretary  with  the  name& 
of  the  committees  as  reported  and  in  the  absence  of  our  Reading  Clerk 
the  Chair  will  read  them. 

The  Chair  then  read  the  names  of  the  committees:  — 


Arizona 

Arkansas  . . . 
California... 
Colorado. . . . 

Idaho 

Iowa    

Indian  Ter.. 

Kansas 

Minnesota  . . 

Missouri 

Nebraska  . . . 
New  Mexico 
Oklahoma.. 

Oregon 

S.Dakota... 

Texas 

Utah 

Washington 
Wyoming  .. 
Alaska 


Credentials. 
T.  B.  Comstock, 
H.  E.  Kelley, 
Wm.  Johnston, 
C.  E.  Smith, 
Wm.  Budge, 
A.  P.Gibbs, 
G.  B.  Dennison, 
S.  H.  Fullerton, 
.Thos.  Sharp, 
S.  B.  Cook, 
.J.  G.  Hamilton, 
.T.  R.  Gabel, 
.J.  D.  Maguire, 
E.  P.  Dosch, 
J.  R.  Brennan, 
.Ed.  A.  Marshall, 
.W.  H.  Culmer, 
.A.L.  Black, 
.Root.  Foote,  Sr., 
.J.  C.  Green, 


Bules  and  Order 

of  Business. 
S.  Watts, 

B.  D.  Williams, 
Geo.  H.  Pippy, 
A.  C.  Fisk, 
John  Donaldson, 
H.  Volmer, 

D.  M.  M.  Hailey, 
W.  R.  Savage, 
Thos.  Sharp, 
H.  H.  Harding, 
J.  W.  Shabata, 
A.  W.  Harris, 

C.  G.Jones, 

M.  G.  Butterfleld, 
J.  R.  Brennan, 
W.  D.  Lacy, 
Judge  Dusenberryj 
L.  L.  Adams, 

J.  C.  Green, 


Permanent 
Organization. 
W.  J.  Cheyney, 
J.  A.  C.  Blackburn, 
A.  P.  Roach, 
R.  E.  Goodell, 
F.  S.  Bramwell, 
E.  B.  Tucker, 
W.  H.  Walker, 
A.  J.  Harwi, 
Thos.  Sharp, 
Joseph  Rusk, 
S.  M.  Benedict, 
T.  J.  Helm, 
O.  A.  Michter, 
E.  P.  Dosch, 
J.  R.  Brennan* 
Geo.  Deihl, 
T.  G.  Webber, 
N.  M.  Neeld, 

J.  C.  Green. 


The  Chairman:  Those  committees  will  find  rooms  at  their  disposal, 
and  if  they  desire  stationery  it  will  be  furnished  from  the  platform. 


14  Report  of  Proceedings 

The  congress  is  open  for  further  business. 

It  is  suggested  that  the  Committee  on  Credentials  meet  immediately 
in  the  first  room  on  the  right  after  passing  through  the  doorway. 

The  Committee  on  Rules  and  Order  of  Business  is  requested  to  meet 
in  the  room  assigned  them. 

The  Chair  dislikes  very  much  to  make  any  suggestions  to  the  con- 
gress, but  will  feel  extremely  obliged  if  the  Committee  on  Permanent 
Organization  will  make  their  report  as  speedily  as  possible.  Under  an 
unwritten  law  of  the  congress,  the  presiding  officer  of  the  last  session 
continues  in  office  until  his  successor  is  duly  elected.  I  think,  how- 
ever, the  congress  will  recognize  with  me  the  impropriety  of  your  pres- 
ent presiding  officer  presiding  at  a  congress  held  in  his  own  city, 
whose  guests  you  are,  and  therefore  he  will  take  advantage  of  the  priv- 
ilege, accorded  to  all  officers  in  such  a  position,  to  call  other  gentlemen 
to  the  chair  from  time  to  time  during  your  session.  The  Chair  will  call 
upon  ex-Gov.  Prince  of  New  Mexico  to  preside  at  this  afternoon's 
session  of  this  congress.  If  Gov.  Prince  is  here,  he  will  please  come 
on  the  platform. 

The  Chairman  :  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  have  the  pleasure  of  intro- 
ducing ex-Gov.  Prince  of  New  Mexico,  who  will  preside  at  your  after- 
noon session  (applause). 

Ex-Gov.  Prince  taking  the  chair. 

The  Chairman  :  The  President  informs  me  that  there  is  no  regular 
order  of  business  at  this  time.  Any  business,  consequently,  is  in  order. 
The  Chair  would  suggest  that  it  possibly  will  save  time  in  the  future  if 
resolutions  which  have  been  prepared  and  are  ready  to  be  presented 
should  be  presented  at  this  time,  to  be  referred  to  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions  when  appointed. 

Frank  Trimble  (of  Iowa) :  Mr.  Chairman,  my  understanding  is 
that  there  has  been  no  Committee  on  Resolutions  appointed. 

The  Chairman:  That  is  correct. 

Mr.  Trimble:  Then  I  shall  object  to  any  resolutions  being  pre- 
sented here  until  a  Committee  on  Resolutions  has  been  appointed. 

The  Chairman:  That  is  a  matter  for  the  disposition  of  the  house. 
The  ordinary  custom  is  that  resolutions  can  be  presented  at  any  time, 
to  be  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  without  debate.  If  the 
house  prefers  to  wait  for  the  appointment  of  its  Committee  on  Resolu- 
tions, there  is  no  objection  to  that  course. 

Mr.  Trimble:  I  move  that  no  resolution  be  submitted  until  the 
Committee  on  Resolutions  is  appointed,  and  that  all  resolutions  be 
submitted  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions. 

R.  W.  Richardson  (of  Nebraska) :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  cannot  see  any 
necessity  for  this  motion  at  this  time,  and  I  therefore  move  that  it  be 
not  considered. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  15 

The  Chairman  :  It  is  moved  that  this  motion  be  laid  on  the  table. 
This  motion  was  duly  seconded  and  carried. 

The  Chairman  :  The  motion  is  laid  on  the  table.  What  is  the  next 
pleasure  of  the  house.     The  introduction  of  resolutions  is  in  order. 

Del  C.  Huntoon  (of  Iowa):  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  that  an  invita- 
tion be  sent  from  this  congress  to  the  Government  Commission  in  St. 
Louis  having  in  charge  the  Government  improvements  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River  to  appear  before  this  congress  at  some  convenient  time  and 
State  to  this  congress  the  improvements  to  this  river  and  the  result 
obtained.  We  want  the  Commission  of  the  Government  to  state  to 
this  congress  what  they  have  done  and  what  they  intend  to  do.  We 
know  that  in  the  medical  profession,  when  the  physicians  have  difficulty 
in  diagnosing  a  case  they  call  it  appendicitis  and  go  to  carving.  A  great 
many  think  that  is  the  way  with  this  Government  Commission. 

The  Chairman:  As  the  Chair  understands  it,  the  resolution  from 
the  gentleman  from  Iowa  is  that  an  invitation  be  extended  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Commission  which  he  has  just  named  to  attend  the  session 
of  this  congress,  at  some  time  which  may  meet  their  convenience,  in 
order  to  enlighten  us  by  a  statement  of  the  progress  of  that  work  —  is 
that  the  idea  ? 

Mr.  Huntoon:  Yes,  sir. 
This  motion  was  seconded  and  carried. 

The  Chairman:  The  resolution  is  adopted  and  the  invitation  will  be 
extended  by  the  Secretary. 

A  Delegate  from  St.  Louis:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  see  that  we  have  with 
us  ex-Gov.  Stanard  of  our  State  and  city,  and  as  I  contemplate  intro- 
ducing a  resolution  upon  the  reciprocity  treaties,  I  move  that  he  be 
invited  to  a  seat  upon  the  platform  and  explain  to  us  the  subject  of 
the  reciprocity  treaties  and  their  effect  during  the  term  of  their 
continuance  and  operation. 

This  motion  was  seconded  and  carried. 

(Hon.  E.  O.  Stanard  (of  St.  Louis):  Of  course  I  am  not  unmindful 
of  the  honor  that  my  friends  from  St.  Louis  have  conferred  upon  me  by 
requesting  me  to  speak  upon  this  subject,  but  this  invitation  is  exceed- 
ing unexpected  to  me  and  certainly  without  consultation.  I  have  a 
resolution  prepared  upon  the  subject  of  reciprocity  between  the  United 
States  and  the  West  Indies,  which  I  thought  I  would  take  occasion  to 
introduce  this  afternoon,  with  other  resolutions,  but  I  have  no  thought 
of  making  a  speech  upon  this  subject  now  and  perhaps  not  at  all.  It 
would  seem  to  me  that  the  gentleman  who  offered  the  motion  asking 
that  resolutions  be  now  presented  to  this  convention,  was  exceedingly 
wise  in  that  suggestion,  and  I  think  that  the  resolution  should  be  read, 
because  I  am  quite  confident  that  there  are  more  persons  than  myself 
who  have  resolutions   in   their   pockets,  and  I  think    they  should  be 


16  .  Report  of  Proceedings 

brought  out,  so  that  we  may  see  the  drift  that  is  in  the  minds  of  the 
members  of  this  convention,  and  be  able  to  deliberate  on  the  subjects 
that  will  be  brought  to  our  attention.  Hence,  I  am  not  disposed  to 
speak  upon  the  subject  at  this  time,  but  I  take  pleasure  in  introducing 
a  short  preamble  and  resolution  upon  the  subject  of  reciprocity.  I 
hope  they  will  be  read.  I  am  not  disposed  to  make  a  speech  upon  this 
subject. 

The  resolution  was  then  read  as  follows:  — 

Whereas  :  It  having  been  represented  to  this  Convention  that,  since  the 
Reciprocity  Treaties  between  the  United  States  and  the  West  Indies  went  into 
effect  in  1890,  a  very  large  and  remunerative  trade  was  established  between 
these  countries,  amounting  as  is  represented  to  about  3,250,000  barrels  of  flour 
per  annum  (equal  to  about  15,000,000  bushels  of  wheat)  more  than  2,000,000 
bushels  of  corn,  large  quantities  of  other  farm  products  consisting  of  oats, 
baled  hay,  mill  feed,  etc.,  also  large  quantities  of  hog  products  together  with 
agricultural  implements  and  other  articles  of  manufacture,  amounting  in  value 
to  about  $22,000,000.00  in  exports  annually  from  this  country;  and 

Whereas  :  Since  these  treaties  were  abrogated  by  the  passage  of  the  Senate 
Bill  some  of  the  last  days  of  August,  our  commercial  relations  have  been 
almost  entirely  discontinued  thereby  and  steamship  lines  connecting  with  the 
Latin  American  ports  from  Galveston,  Texas,  Pensacola,  Florida,  and  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi  River  have  been  obliged  to  practically  cease  opera- 
tions; therefore 

Resolved,  That,  under  the  circumstances  narrated,  this  Convention  urgently 
requests  the  Government  of  the  United  States  to  take  early  steps  for  the  re- 
establishment  of  the  old  commercial  treaties  between  the  United  States  and 
the  West  Indies,  or  make  new  commercial  treaties  to  the  end  that  such  business 
may  again*  be  made  possible  as  existed  under  the  Reciprocity  Treaties,  or  to 
enact  new  laws  if  found  necessary,  so  that  business  may  be  promoted  and 
extended  between  the  United  States  and  the  countries  in  question. 

The  Chairman  :  This  resolution  will  be  referred  to  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions  when  appointed.  It  has  been  the  custom  in  previous  con- 
gresses to  pass  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  all  resolutions  of  this 
character,  that  i3,  not  appertaining  to  the  order  of  business,  be  read 
when  presented  and  then  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  with- 
out debate.  Some  action  with  regard  to  this  matter  should  be  taken, 
in  order  that  there  may  be  a  regular  rule. 

Mr.  Stanard:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  that  all  resolutions  not  pertain- 
ing to  the  order  of  business,  when  presented  be  read  and  referred  to 
the  Committee  on  Resolutions  without  debate. 

Jerome  Hill  (of  St.  Louis) :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  offer  an  amendment 
to  the  resolution  offered  by  the  gentleman  irom  St.  Louis,  to  the  effect 
that  the  resolution  extend  beyond  the  States  and  be  made  applicable 
to  the  other  countries  of  Spanish  America  with  which  we  had  treaties  of 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  17 

a  favorable  character,  which  were  unfortunately  abrogated  through 
the  Wilson  bill. 

Mr.  Stanard:  I  should  be  glad  to  accept  the  amendment  of  the 
gentleman,  or  refer  it  to  the  Committee  for  such  amendment  as  they 
see  fit. 

The  question  was  then  put  and  carried  on  the  motion  in  regard 
to  the  conduct  of  business  concerning  the  receipt  of  resolutions. 

The  Chairman  :  If  the  gentleman  from  Missouri  will  be  kind  enough 
to  reduce  his  amendment  to  writing,  and  present  it,  it  will  go  to  the 
Committee  on  Resolutions,  to  be  considered  with  the  resolution  intro- 
duced by  his  colleague  from  Missouri. 

Mr.  Castle:  In  behalf  of  the  California  delegation,  I  desire  to 
present  a  memorial  to  Congress  on  the  subject  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal, 
and  ask  that  it  be  read. 

The  memorial  was  read. 

The  Chairman  :  It  will  be  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions 
when  appointed. 

David  Lubin  (of  California) :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  offer  the  following 
resolutions  in  reference  to  the  protection  of  staple  agriculture :  — 

Whereas,  American  principles  demand  equality  before  the  law,  in  life,  lib- 
erty and  taxation ;  and, 

Whereas,  The  prices  of  American  manufactures  are  increased  by  the  pro- 
tective tariff  in  our  country ;  and, 

Whereas,  The  foundation  industry,  namely,  staple  agriculture,  cannot  be 
benefited  by  a  protective  tariff  alone,  owing  to  the  fact  that  these  products  are 
exports  and  therefore  are  sold  in  free  competition  in  the  open  markets  at  the 
world's  ruling  prices,  less  the  cost  of  transportation  from  place  of  production 
to  Liverpool,  whether  consumed  at  home  or  exported;  thus  compelling  Ameri- 
can producers  of  these  staples  to  buy  in  the  dearest  and  sell  in  the  cheapest 
markets  of  the  world,  thereby  discriminating  against  the  producers  of  staple 
agriculture;   and 

Whereas,  The  introduction  of  labor-saving  agricultural  machinery  in  the 
hands  of  the  cheapest  labor  of  the  world  and  on  lands  much  cheaper  and  as 
fertile  as  ours  has  so  lowered  the  cost  of  production  as  to  reduce  the  world's 
price  of  these  staples  to  about  half  their  former  rates,  and  which  promise  to 
remain  so  permanently ;  and, 

Whereas,  Such  a  condition  must  tend  to  the  elimination  of  the  independent 
land  owning  farmer  and  his  replacement  by  a  dependent  peasant  tenantry  system, 
which,  unless  prevented,  will  not  only  prove  detrimental  to  agriculture  and  the 
kindred  industries  but  also  to  the  perpetuity  of  American  institutions ;  therefore 

Besolved:  (1)  That  just  so  long  as  manufactures  are  enhanced  in  value  by 
protection,  equity,  justice  and  expediency  demand  an  equal  measure  of  protec- 
tion for  staple  agriculture  by  enhancement  of  their  prices  in  our  country; 

Besolved:  (2)  That,  inasmuch  as  these  products  are  exports  and  not  im- 
ports, their  prices  cannot  be  enhanced  by  a  protective  tariff  alone,  no  matter 
how  high,  but  an  increase  of  their  prices  in  our  country  can  only  be  secured 
by  the  use  of  a  limited  portion  of  the  tariff  collected  for  protection  to  pay 
a  premium  on  exported  agricultural  staples. 


18  Report  of  Proceedings 

S.  F.  Smith  (of  Iowa) :  I  desire  to  offer  a  resolution  in  behalf  of  the 
delegation  from  Iowa,  as  to  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  Canal :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  Canal  (known  as  the  Hennepin 
Canal)  one  section  of  which  is  completed,  making  now  available  about  twenty 
miles  of  canal  navigation,  should  be  vigorously  pushed  to  completion,  thus  con- 
necting the  Mississippi  river  and  the  lakes,  making  a  through  water  route  from 
said  river  to  the  eastern  seaboard. 

And  we  recommend  an  annual  continuous  appropriation  by  Congress  suffi- 
cient to  complete  the  same  as  speedily  as  possible. 

George  Sengel  (of  Arkansas)  :  I  offer  this  resolution  in  reference  to 
the  creation  of  a  tariff  commission  to  regulate  the  tariff  of  the  United 
States :  — 

Whereas,  The  disturbed  condition  of  the  country  has  greatly  disarranged 
the  commercial  affairs  of  all  sections  without  regard  to  political  affiliations,  so 
that  one  section  of  the  United  States  is  prospering  at  the  expense  of  the  other, 
and  believing  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  to  regu- 
late the  affairs  of  the  country,  so  that  no  section  will  suffer  or  prosper  at  the 
loss  of  the  other,  and  whereas  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  commercial  and 
agricultural  affairs  of  all  sections  is  due  to  the  frequent  elections  throughout 
the  land,  changing  the  political  parties  too  often,  and  whereas  all  the  political 
parties  have  incorporated  the  tariff  in  their  platforms,  and  whereas  the  tariff 
directly  affects  each  and  every  citizen  of  the  United  States  in  one  way  or  other, 
without  regard  to  his  political  belief ;    therefore 

Besolved,  That  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  be  asked  to  frame  a  law  that 
will  create  a  commission  to  act  for  the  whole  people,  in  all  sections  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  said  commission  have  full  power  to  regulate  the  tariff 
so  that  it  will  not  be  a  burden  to  any  one  section  of  the  country,  and  that  all 
industries  and  people  be  protected  alike ;  be  it  further 

Besolved,  That  the  congress  of  the  trans-Mississippi  States  petition  the  polit- 
ical parties  of  the  United  States  to  eliminate  the  tariff  question  from  their  polit- 
ical platforms,  and  unite  with  the  trans-Mississippi  congress  in  influencing  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  to  place  the  tariff  question  in  the  hands  of  a  com- 
mission—  whose  duties  will  be  regulated  by  congress  when  the  commission  is 
created,  and  that  a  law  be  passed  whereby  a  change  in  the  tariff  will  not  take 
place  with  the  change  in  the  political  management  of  the  government. 

The  Chairman  :  The  Chair  begs  to  request  gentlemen  offering  reso- 
lutions to  indorse  on  the  resolutions  their  names,  in  order  that  no 
mistakes  may  occur  with  regard  to  the  ownership  of  the  resolutions. 

C.  O.  Frye  (of  Missouri)  :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  a  resolution  which 
I  ask  that  I  be  allowed  to  read  for  myself,  for  the  reason  that  my  voice 
is  peculiarly  strong  upon  this  subject. 

Mr.  Frye  then  took  the  platform  and  read  his  preamble  and  resolu- 
tion, occupying  upwards  of  twenty  minutes  in  the  reading,  and  during 
the  reading  he  was  interrupted  by  Hon.  C.  C.  Goodwin,  of  Utah,  who 
said : — 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  19 

Judge  Goodwin:  Mr.  Chairman,  if  tbat  is  not  out  of  order,  I  think 
it  will  be  a  kindness  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  if  the  Chair  will 
announce  that  they  will  only  have  four  days  and  nights  to  consider  the 
matter  (laughter). 

Resolutions  were  then  offered  as  follows: — 

By  Mr.  Parsons  of  Cal.  favoring  the  establishment  of  Deepwater 
Harbor  in  Southern  California. 

By  Mr.  Bowen  of  Utah  in  favor  of  Restoration  of  Silver. 

By  Mr.  Collins  of  Ark.  relating  to  the  Coinage  of  Silver. 

By  Mr.  Stoddard  of  Col.  relating  to  the  use  of  Coin  Certificates. 

By  Mr.  Gale  of  St.  Louis  amending  the  Reciprocity  Resolution 
offered  by  Mr.  Stanard. 

Mr.  Castle:  Following  the  lines  laid  down  at  our  last  session,  and 
in  order  to  bring  this  matter  before  the  congress  for  consideration  at 
this  time,  I  move  the  appointment  of  a  Committee  on  Resolutions  to  be 
composed  of  four  delegates  from  each  State  and  Territory  represented, 
the  appointments  to  be  made  by  the  delegates  from  said  States  and 
Territories,  and  to  be  announced  at  the  opening  session  to-morrow 
morning. 

Mr.  Collins:  Mr.  Chairman,  how  many  States  are  represented? 

The  Chairman  :  The  Chair  is  unable  to  say  —  perhaps  the  Secretary 
will  be  kind  enough  to  state. 

Mr.  Castle:  In  regard  to  that  matter  I  desire  to  state,  at  San 
Francisco  there  were  88  members  of  that  committee,  but  at  no  time 
were  more  than  20  members  of  the  committee  present,  and  therefore 
we  believe  it  is  necessary  to  make  the  committee  large,  in  order  that 
the  business  of  the  congress  may  be  properly  attended  to. 

Gov.  Waite:  Mr.  Chairman,  it  seems  to  me,  to  take  88  members 
out  of  this  convention,  it  will  not  leave  us  much  of  a  convention.  If 
this  discussion  is  going  on  that  has  been  commenced,  it  possibly  would 
not  do  any  particular  harm  if  the  convention  did  not  hear  most  of  it, 
but  it  seems  to  me  that  this  committee  in  order  to  amount  to  anything 
will  have  to  be  small.  I  do  not  believe  88  gentlemen  can  agree  any 
quicker  than  this  convention  can  in  a  body,  and  if  we  appoint  88  mem- 
bers and  only  a  quarter  of  them  attend,  I  think  we  had  better  cut  it 
down  to  a  quarter  on  the  start.  I  am  opposed  to  the  number.  I 
move  an  amendment  that  we  have  two  members  instead  of  four. 

This  motion  was  seconded. 

It  was  moved  as  an  amendment  to  the  amendment  that  the  number 
be  fixed  at  three. 

A  motion  was  then  made  that  the  body  constitute  itself  a  committee 
of  the  whole  on  resolutions  (laughter). 

The  Chairman  :  There  are  two  amendments  pending  to  the  original 
motion  at  the  present  time.     The  question  is  on  the  amendment  to  the 


20  Report  of  Proceedings 

amendment ;  that  is,  that  the  committee  consist  of  three  members  from 
each  State  and  Territory. 

The  question  was  then  put  and  lost. 

The  Chairman:  The  question  now  occurs  on  the  amendment  to  the 
original  motion  made  by  Gov.  Waite  of  Colorado. 

Mr.  Castle  :  The  amendment  is  accepted  by  the  original  mover. 

The  Chairman:  The  question  is  as  to  the  adoption  of  the  original 
motion  as  amended  and  accepted  —  that  is,  that  a  Committee  on 
Resolutions  be  appointed  consisting  of  two  members  from  each  State 
and  Territory. 

It  was  then  mov^d  by  a  delegate  from  Missouri  that  the  Committee 
consist  of  one  member  from  each  State  and  Territory. 

Mr.  Whitmore  :  Mr.  Chairman,  it  was  not  my  intention  to  occupy  any 
time  of  this  congress  beyond  the  necessities  of  my  official  position,  but 
as  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  and  a  delegate  to  several  of 
these  congresses,  I  desire  to  state,  simply  for  the  information  of  the 
congress,  that  we  have  always  found  it  necessary  to  have  a  large 
Committee  on  Resolutions,  in  order  that  it  might  be  subdivided  into 
smaller  committees  and  different  subjects  assigned  to  them.  At  San 
Francisco  we  found  it  necessary  to  have  four.  At  New  Orleans  three. 
You  will  find  it  utterly  impossible  to  divide  this  work  up  among  a 
committee  of  one  from  each  State  and  Territory  and  have  that  work 
done  effectively.  I  simply  express  that  as  the  experience  of  the  past, 
and  I  am  sure  it  will  be  repeated  at  this  congress.  We  want  a  com- 
mittee large  enough  to  handle  these  subjects  intelligently  and  not  have 
resolutions  rushed  through  because  the  committee  have  not  time  to 
consider  them.  I  see  no  objection  to  a  large  committee,  so  that  you 
may  have  four  or  five  sub-committees  meeting  at  the  same  time,  to 
whom  the  most  important  subjects  can  be  assigned,  and  another  com- 
mittee on  miscellaneous  subjects. 

The  amendment  to  appoint  a  committee  of  one  from  each  State  and 
Terrifcny  was  then  withdrawn  and  the  motion  as  amended  to  consist  of 
two  members  from  each  State  and  Territory  was  accepted  by  the  mover 
of  the  last  amendment. 

The  motion  was  then  seconded  and  carried. 

The  Chairman  :  This  resolution  also  carries  with  it  the  proposition 
that  the  members  of  this  committee  shall  be  announced  to-morrow 
morning  at  the  opening  session. 

Mr.  Stanard:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  one  more  resolution  to  offer  — 
only  one.  I  offer  it,  if  I  may  be  permitted  to  say  it,  as  a  sort  of  a 
counter-irritant  to  some  of  the  resolutions  which  have  been  read  and 
referred,  especially  to  the  resolution  and  stump  speech  of  my  friend 
from  Joplin,  Mo. 

The  resolution  was  then  read  relating  to  the  use  of  silver  in  the  coin- 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  21 

age  of  this  country  to  the  fullest  extent  consistent  with  the  maintenance 
of  our  present  standard,  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions. 

Resolutions  were  offered  by  Hon.  Frank  J.  Cannon  of  Utah,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  appointment  of  the  Uncompahgre  and  Uintah  Indian  Com- 
missions. 

By  Mr.  Lubin  of  California,  in  relation  to  the  appointment  of  a  com- 
mittee of  five  to  attend  the  National  Grange. 

By  J.  C.  Green  of  Alaska,  relating  to  the  government  and  development 
of  Alaska. 

By  Thos.  J.  Sharp  of  Minnesota,  favoring  an  appropriation  for  the 
Deepening  of  Duluth  Harbor. 

The  Chairman:  What  is  the  further  pleasure  of  the  congress? 

Mr.  Whitmore  :  I  am  in  receipt  of  a  communication  from  the  Kear- 
ney State  Irrigation  Convention  Committee,  which  the  Clerk  will  read. 

The  Clerk  then  read  a  letter  from  the  foregoing  convention  sending 
greetings  to  the  Trans-Mississippi  Congress,  and  requesting  the  appoint- 
ment of  delegates  to  attend  said  irrigation  convention,  to  be  held  at 
Kearney,  Neb.,  December  18th  and  19th,  1894. 

On  motion  duly  seconded  and  carried  the  communication  was  ordered 
placed  on  file. 

A  resolution  was  then  offered  by  Senator  Johnston  of  California 
relating  to  the  improvement  of  harbors  and  navigable  streams. 

Mr.  Rich  of  Idaho  offered  a  resolution  relating  to  the  coinage  of 
silver. 

It  was  then  moved,  seconded  and  carried  that  immediately  after  the 
adjournment  of  the  convention  the  delegates  from  each  State  and  ter- 
ritory meet  in  this  hall  and  select  their  two  representatives  of  the 
Committee  on  Resolutions. 

The  Chairman  :  The  Chair  would  suggest  that  the  names  be  handed 
to  the  Secretary  before  the  evening  session. 

The  Chair  desires  to  state  that  resolutions  will  be  in  order  at  any 
time  prior  to  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions.  It  must  not 
be  understood  that  when  we  adjourn  this  evening  no  more  resolutions 
can  be  offered. 

Col.  A.  C.  Fisk  (of  Colorado) :  Mr.  Chairman,  if  it  is  in  order  now, 
I  would  like  to  move  that  Mr.  S.  T.  Hamilton  of  Nebraska,  who  rep- 
resents the  Norfolk  Beet  Sugar  Company  of  Nebraska,  address  the 
convention  this  afternoon.     It  is  one  of  the  subjects  that  will  come  up. 

The  Chairman:  If  there  is  no  objection,  it  is  in  order. 

REMARKS    OF    S.    T.    HAMILTON,    OF    NORFOLK,  NEB.,    ON   BEET    SUGAR  INDUSTRY. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I  will  not  detain  you  but  a  few  minutes, 
but  I  think  I  can  interest  you  in  a  thought  that  we  ought  to  consider  in  this 
congress.    We  are  here  to  exchange  views  and  thoughts  and  to  pass  resolu- 


22  Report  of  Proceedings 

tions  askiug  national  legislation  on  these  resolutions  that  shall  benefit  our 
Western  couutry,  our  Southwestern  country,  our  entire  land,  and  all  of  the 
wage-earners  and  farmers  who  are  to-day  suffering  from  depreciation.  There 
are  over  three  million  idle  men  in  this  country  now,  representing  possibly  ten 
to  twelve  million  souls.  These  men  are  idle  because  of  many  reasons. 
Factories  have  been  closed  up.  We  in  the  West  are  more  interested  at  this 
particular  time  in  several  matters  that  are  going  to  be  brought  up  here  than 
most  people  imagine. 

There  is  to-day  an  immense  depreciation  in  agriculture.  The  price  of  cereals 
is  very  cheap  —  very  low.  The  farmer  is  complaining,  and  I  see  no  special 
reason  for  a  change  unless  wise  legislation  is  brought  to  bear  on  the  subject. 
We  can  legislate  in  many  ways,  but  those  that  are  really  interested  in  the  wel- 
fare of  the  laboring  man  and  of  the  farmer,  I  think,  will  find,  in  what  I  say,. 
something  to  think  about. 

Thirty  years  ago  there  appeared  a  star  in  the  firmament  of  agricultural  pur- 
suits, which  twinkled  and  went  out.  To-day  that  star  has  come  back  with 
brilliancy  that  assures  its  permanence.  I  refer  now  to  the  manufacture 
of  the  sugar  that  we  consume  in  the  United  States,  from  the  sugar  beet. 
It  is  especially  shining  —  this  star  —  on  the  West  and  the  Southwest, 
and  with  irrigation  there  is  no  reason  why  many  of  our  Western  States 
cannot  attract  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people,  and  then  from  a  small 
tract  of  ten  acres  of  well-cultivated  beets  a  man  can  support  his  entire 
family.  At  Norfolk,  Neb.,  where  we  have  one  of  our  plants,  the  farmers  this 
year  will  absolutely  receive  little  or  nothing  from  their  crops  other  than 
the  sugar  beet  crop.  They  have  had  a  drouth  there  that  has  been  very  severe,, 
but  the  beet  crop,  growing  under  the  ground  and  receiving  its  nourish- 
ment from  the  little  tap  root  which  goes  down  twenty  feet  into  the  subsoil  to 
get  its  drink  of  water,  has  turned  out  a  wonderful  tonnage.  In  some  places 
where  there  was  no  rain  from  the  19th  day  of  May,  until  the  17th  day  of  July, 
we  have  received  a  result  of  twenty  tons  of  beet  per  acre,  for  which  we  have 
paid  five  dollars  a  ton,  or  one  hundred  dollars  an  acre.  The  importance  of 
manufacturing  our  own  sugar  must  be  to  all  of  you  very  clear.  To-day  we  are 
paying  out  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  millions  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
millions  of  dollars  to  foreign  nations  for  the  sugar  that  our  people  consume, 
and  there  is  no  reason  why  we  cannot  produce  every  pound  of  it  right  here  in 
our  own  Western  country.  The  result  of  doing  so  would  not  only  keep  at 
home  this  vast  sum  of  money,  but  it  would  divide  up  our  large  farms  into 
smaller  tracts.  It  gives  labor  to  little  children  in  cultivating  the  beets, 
enables  a  poor  man,  who  cannot  buy  a  farm  or  even  rent  a  farm,  to  rent  ten 
acres  and  to  produce  from  that  ten  acres  a  sum  sufficient  to  support  his  family. 
It  has  so  many  advantages  and  its  benefits  diverge  into  so  many  channels  of 
trade  that  in  this  Western  country,  where  we  have  no  river  navigation,  and  no" 
forests  of  lumber,  it  seems  specially  adapted  to  this  section.  I  feel  that  States 
like  Oregon,  Washington,  Utah,  Iowa,  Nebraska,  Arkansas  and  other  Western 
States  —  California  as  well  —  for  California  has  a  very  large  factory  there  —  are 
especially  interested  in  it,  for  it  is  hand  in  hand  with  irrigation. 

At  Utah,  where  they  have  a  factory,  their  beets  the  first  year  were  poor,  be- 
cause they  did  not  know  how  to  irrigate.  To-day  that  factory  is  working  to 
great  advantage  and  their  beets  are  very  rich,  because  they  do  know  how  to 
irrigate.  We  at  Norfolk  consume  three  carloads  of  limestone  every  twenty- 
four  hours.  In  the  State  of  Nebraska  we  use  four  and  one-half  carloads  of 
coal,  one-half  a  carload  of  coke  and  turn  out  three  carloads  of  sugar,  and  this 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  23 

year  we  have  brought  into  Norfolk  from  surrounding  farms  six  hundred 
carloads  of  sugar  beets,  outside  of  those  which  have  been  grown  and  produced 
by  farmers  who  have  brought  the  beets  in  by  wagon  loads.  The  factory  will 
probably  run  until  the  loth  day  of  next  January,  consuming  about  140  tons  of 
beets  per  diem,  and  paying  out  to  wage-earners  for  everything  that  we  use, 
about  $1,600.00  per  day.  This  money  is  felt  in  that  town,  so  that  land  that 
was  worth  $8.00  to  $10.00  an  acre  when  we  located  there,  is  now  renting  for 
from  $5.00  to  $7.00  a  year  for  the  cultivation  of  beets,  and  cannot  be  bought 
for  less  than  $100.00  to  $150.00  per  acre. 

At  Cnino,  Cal.,  where  we  hive  another  plant,  and  which  is  now  closed, 
having  finished  its  campaign  about  two  weeks  ago,  we  consume  a  thousand 
tons  of  beets  a  day,  and  the  land  there  at  the  Chino  Valley  ranch  could  have 
been  bought  when  we  located  that  factory  four  years  ago  for  about  $10.00  to 
$12.00  an  acre,  if  bought  in  a  large  body.  During  this  last  year,  in  June, 
they  had  an  auction  sale,  and  that  land  sold  for  $175.00  to  $212.00  an  acre, 
showing  what  was  the  result  of  an  industry  giving  the  farmer  a  crop  that 
was  not  affected  by  speculative  influences. 

When  a  man  grows  corn  and  wheat  (and  the  ordinary  farmer  is  a  mau,  as  we 
know,  of  not  very  much  education)  he  places  himself  immediately  in  the  hands 
of  the  speculator  in  Chicago,  but  when  he  grows  a  crop  that  is  contracted  for 
before  it  is  put  in  the  ground,  he  only  runs  the  risk  of  what  result  he  will  get 
from  his  cultivated  beet. 

As  I  have  said,  it  will  withstand  frost,  drought  or  heavy  rain  better  than 
any  crop  that  can  be  produced. 

It  would  require  1,000  factories  such  as.  we  have  in  Nebraska  to  give  the 
people  of  the  United  States  the  sugar  they  consume  every  year.  We  are 
now  consuming  about  60  pounds  per  capita,  and  only  producing  about  9  per 
cent,  mostly  in  Louisiana.  But  Louisiana  is  a  cane  district,  and  the  cane 
can  only  be  grown  to  advantage  in  certain  localities,  while  the  beet  can  be 
produced  in  all  our  western  States,  in  a  number  of  our  southern  States,  and 
in  the  Southwest  generally.  The  consumption  of  sugar  doubles  about  every 
ten  years,  so  that  as  fast  as  we  could  build  these  factories,  we  would  be  gain- 
ing on  the  consumption,  so  that  it  may  be  estimated  to  be  a  matter  of 
twenty-five  years,  before  we  could  build  sufficient  factories  to  catch  up  with 
the  consumption. 

Now,  we  were  induced  to  go  into  this  industry  by  a  contract  which  we  sup- 
posed and  still  believe  to  be  a  contract  made  by  the  U.  S.  government,  wherein 
they  specify  a  reasonable  time  of  fifteen  years  that  they  made  sugar  free.  This 
was  a  very  wise  act,  for  sugar  is  used  by  every  mau,  woman  and  child  in  our 
land.  To  induce  the  development  of  this  industry  they  put  on,  unsolicited,  a 
bounty  of  two  cents  per  pound  for  fifteen  years,  and  then  it  should  cease. 
They  took  off,  to  do  this,  a  duty  of  3  3-4=  cents  a  pound,  and  during  the  last 
legislation  in  Washington  they  have  repudiated  that  contract  and  put  on  a  duty 
of  40  per  cent  ad  valorem,  which  was  a  Sugar  Trust  duty. 

I  want  to  say  here  that  we  are  not  directly  or  indirectly  connected  or 
associated  with  the  Sugar  Trust,  or  they  with  us.  We  are  in  fact  direct 
competitors  of  the  Sugar  Trust. 

Now,  an  ad  valorem  duty  means  40  per  cent  on  the  value  of  the  article 
where  it  is  purchased.  Much  of  our  raw  sugar  comes  from  the  West  Indies, 
where  there  is  no  market.  For  instance,  at  Port  au  Prince  they  have  no 
market,  but  they  send  up  large  quantities  of  sugar  to  the  New  York  market 
in  its  raw  state,  which    the  sugir  refiuery  makes  white,  while  we    take  the 


24  Report  of  Proceedings 

sugar  out  of  the  ground  and  turn  it  into  the  finest  grade  of  granulated 
sugar,  and  it  is  commanding  the  full  market  price  that  the  sugars  of  the 
trust  are  commanding. 

This  ad  valorem  system,  we  seriously  object  to,  because  it  opens  up  room 
for  all  kinds  of  fraud.  The  Sugar  Trust  can  say,  "  This  sugar  is  worth 
so  much,  or  so  much,"  and  get  it  in  on  40  per  cent  of  its  supposed  value, 
and  make  the  difference,  when  they  know  that  it  is  really  worth  more  than 
it  is  valued  at.  But  they  insist  upon  it;  they  spend  their  money  and  they 
get  their  bill  through. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  would  like  to  have  you  consider  in  this  congress 
whether  it  is  advisable  for  this  country  to  make  its  own  sugar.  If  it  is  not 
wise,  then  we  should  not  consider  or  think  anything  about  it. 

What  is  the  result  to  our  people  and  our  wage-earners?  A  factory  such  as 
we  have  in  Norfolk,  Neb.,  gives  subsistence  to  about  6,500  souls,  taking  into 
consideration  the  farmer  that  grows  the  beets,  the  man  that  works  in  the  coal 
mine,  in  the  limestone  quarry,  in  the  machine  shop  and  in  the  factory;  and  at 
Norfolk  it  has  had  such  an  effect  there  that  if  you  would  offer  them  a  million 
dollars  to  close  that  factory  up  for  a  year  or  two  the  people  would  not  consider 
it.  It  has  relieved  the  depression  that  existed  in  that  particular  point.  It 
even  reaches  out  and  we  are  getting  beets  from  100  miles  distant.  The  farmers 
cannot  grow  corn  to  advantage  at  present  prices.  The  product  of  lime  cake  is 
the  best  of  fertilizers.  The  product  of  the  beet,  which  is  pulp,  is  the  finest  cattle 
feed.  We  have  now  some  2,000  head  of  cattle  which  we  are  feeding  at  the  rate 
of  80  to  90  pounds  per  diem,  and  the  fattening  of  them  is  something  wonderful. 
We  sell  that  pulp  for  50  cents  a  ton  "while  in  Europe  it  is  worth  $8.00  to  $10.00 
a  ton.     We  give  away  the  lime  cake.  ^ 

All  these  things  we  have  had  to  contend  with  and  they  will  necessitate  the 
closing  up  of  those  factories  unless  we  have  some  fair  and  adequate  protection 
against  the  cheap  labor  of  Europe  and  against  the  grasping  monopoly  of  the 
Sugar  Trust.  Those  people  see  that  this  industry  is  bound  to  spread,  that  it  is 
bound  to  extend,  that  it  is  an  industry  that  makes  the  farmer  its  partner. 
There  is  at  least  $50,000,000  in  New  York  to-day  ready  to  embark  in  it. 

We  have  never  yet  received  a  dividend,  or  made  one,  or  received  the  value  of 
a  postage  stamp  from  the  work  in  Nebraska.  But  we  have  in  California,  for 
the  reason  that  the  farmers  in  California  have  been  a  better  class  of  farmers. 
Men  have  gone  there  in  the  delightful  climate  of  that  State,  and  have  wanted  to 
do  something  themselves,  and  therefore  they  have  grown  beets.  In  Nebraska 
we  have  had  to  contend  against  a  more  ignorant  class,  and  it  has  taken  a  long 
time  to  gain  their  confidence  (applause  and  laughter).  I  do  not  wish  you  to 
understand  that  I  am  extolling  California  against  Nebraska.  I  simply  say  that 
the  climate  of  California  is  superb.  I  say  that  the  soil  there  is  splendid.  But 
we  have  just  as  fine  a  soil  and  equally  as  good  a  climate  for  this  particular 
industry  in  Nebraska  as  we  have  in  California,  and  I  am  interested  financially 
in  both  places.     I  have  dear  friends  in  both  States. 

I  want  simply  to  ask  this  Congress  whether  this  industry  is  worthy  of  develop- 
ment, whether  it  is  worth  while  for  us  to  save  $150,000,000  of  the  money  of  our 
own  people  and  make  our  own  sugar  and  build  up  these  factories  all  over  this 
Western  and  Southwestern  country,  or  whether  it  is  wise  to  drop  it;  whether 
it  is  wise  to  have  free  sugar  and  give  the  advantage  of  that  price  of  sugar  to 
the  poor  man,  or  whether  it  is  better  to  have  a  duty  of  $40,000,000  or  $50,000,- 
000  imposed  on  sugar  every  year  and  at  the  same  time  to  destroy  the  industry, 
because  an  ad  valorem  duty  would  give  protection  when  it  is  not  needed,  and 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  25 

when  it  is  needed  we  do  not  get  it.  '  When  sugar  is  high,  40  per  cent  is  not 
needed;  when  sugar  is  low,  40  per  cent  cannot  protect  it. 

I  said  to  a  Congressman  in  Washington  last  year,  "  Why  do  you  put  in  this 
ad  valorem  duty  —  what  is  the  reason  of  it?  "  His  answer  was,  "  Oh,  that  is  the 
fair  way."  But  it  was  done  solely  for  the  Sugar  Trust.  They  did  not  want  a 
specific  duty.  They  knew  that  a  specific  duty  meant  protection  for  this  home 
industry  that  is  to-day  growing  at  a  great  rate,  while  it  would  destroy  this 
great  monopoly,  and  therefore  they  wanted  the  advantage  of  this  ad  valorem 
duty,  which  we  are  going  to  see  to  it,  if  I  can  induce  you  gentlemen  to  help  me, 
is  changed  to  a  specific  duty. 

I  ask  you  therefore  to  think,  you  gentlemen  who  are  interested  in  the  West, 
whether  this  industry  is  worthy  of  the  consideration  of  this  convention.  I 
would  be  glad  to  state  that  at  my  hotel  I  have  a  bag  of  beet  sugar  made  last 
year  in  Nebraska,  which  I  would  be  glad  to  give  a  sample  of  to  anybody  who 
wants  to  see  it.  I  would  like  to  show  them  the  product  of  our  factory  and  show 
them  what  an  institution  we  have  there. 

In  1890  when  this  McKinley  law  was  put  on,  I  was  in  the  banking  business  in 
New  York.  We  did  not  ask  for  this  bounty,  but  it  was  put  on  to  commence  at 
a  certain  time  and  end  at  a  certain  time.  Owing  to  that  promise,  which  we 
ought  to  be  able  to  rely  upon,  made  by  one  of  the  greatest  governments  on  the 
globe,  we  were  induced  to  come  in  and  invest  over  $2,000,000.  We  intended  to 
go  on  and  build  other  factories,  and  we  still  intend  to  if.  that  promise  is  kept 
good. 

It  is  a  question  I  would  like  to  have  thought  of  here,  whether  any  resolution 
can  be  passed  in  this  congress  which  should  sanction  the  repudiation  of  a 
promise  accepted  in  good  faith  by  people  who  have  nothing  to  sell,  but  who 
want  to  buy  thSir  goods  of  the  farmer  and  give  labor  to  the  laborer.  By  build- 
ing a  thousand  of  these  factories  in  the  United  States  we  would  give  labor  to 
over  7,000,000  people.  It  would  diversify  our  crops;  it  would  add  to  the  value 
of  our  land,  and  in  a  thousand  ways  it  would  benefit  our  people  and  promote 
nearly  every  channel  of  trade  from  one  end  of  this  country  to  the  other. 

The  Chairman;  The  gentleman  desires  it  stated  that  his  room  is  at 
the  Southern  Hotel,  No.  315. 

Hon.  Geo.  Q.  Cannon  (of  Utah) :  There  is  only  one  little  objection 
we  have  to  the  gentleman's  speech.  I  indorse  everything  which  he 
said  heartily,  but  would  not  like  the  impression  to  go  out,  which  his 
remarks  would  create,  that  we  in  Utah  do  not  know  how  to  irrigate 
beets.  If  there  is  anything  in  the  world  we  understand  thoroughly,  it 
is  irrigation,  for  we  have  practiced  it  there  47  years,  and  the  failure,  or 
the  partial  failure,  of  our  first  crop  of  sugar  beets,  was  not  due  to  our 
ignorance  of  irrigation. 

Gov.  Waite:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  understood  you  to  say  that  unless 
resolutions  were  introduced  this  afternoon,  there  would  be  no  chance. 

The  Chairman:  On  the  contrary  the  Chair  stated  distinctly  that 
resolutions  would  be  in  order  at  any  time  until  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions  reported. 

A  Delegate  (from  Nebraska) :  I  do  not  think  my  colleague,  Mr. 
Hamilton,  intended  to  reflect  upon  the  intelligence  of  the  farmers  of 


26  Report  of  Proceedings 

Nebraska  in  his  remarks  in  comparison  with  the  State  of  California.  I 
would  like  to  say  that  California  may  take  the  palm  in  raising  beets, 
but  in  everything  else  we  stand  head  and  shoulders  her  equal,  if  not 
above  her. 

Mr.  Hamilton:  I  would  like  to  say  to  the  gentleman  from  Utah  that 
I  did  not  intend  to  convey  the  idea  that  you  do  not  know  how  to  irri- 
gate. My  good  friend,  Mr.  Thos.  Cutler,  the  President  of  your  sugar 
factory,  told  me  two  years  ago  that  the  reason  that  their  beets  were  a 
little  low  in  purity  was  owing  to  having  been  irrigated  too  late  in  the 
season — not  that  the}*  did  not  know  how  to  irrigate,  but  they  did  not 
have  the  experience  in  irrigating  beets.  Beets  need  no  rain  after  a  cer- 
tain time  in  the  late  summer,  and  that  is  the  reason  that  this  Western 
country  is  especially  adapted  to  beet  culture.  We  want  a  dry,  cold 
fall.  It  brings  the  sugar  into  the  beet,  which  is  brought  by  the  effects 
of  the  rays  of  the  sun  and  the  atmosphere  on  the  leaf,  and  the  sugar  is 
stored  in  the  leaf.  The  beet  is  like  a  honey-comb,  filled  with  little  cells, 
in  which  is  the  sweet  matter,  and  therefore  if  you  put  too  much  water 
on  it  it  will  not  show  the  richness  and  purity,  because  it  will  grow  too 
much.  I  do  not,  sir,  intend  to  convey  the  impression  that  they  do  not 
know  how  to  irrigate.  I  specially  said,  I  think,  that  irrigation  goes 
hand  in  hand  with  this  industry,  and  we  only  did  not  know  the  first 
year  how  soon  to  stop  irrigating  the  beet.  This  year,  I  understand, 
they  are  making  a  grand  success  in  beet  irrigation. 

So  far  as  my  colleague  from  Nebraska  is  concerned,  I  do  not  want  it 
understood  for  one  moment  that  I  am  speaking  disparagingly  about  the 
farmers  of  Nebraska.  They  are  my  friends,  and  I  am  glad  to  say  that, 
after  four  years  of  labor,  I  have  the  confidence  of  nearly  every  one  of 
them  who  live  close  to  our  factory  and  who  have  been  there.  I  only  wanted 
to  convey  the  idea  that  in  Nebraska,  owing  to  the  different  class  of  farm- 
ers, we  had  had  a  struggle  to  go  through  there,  that  we  had  not  met  in 
California.  In  California  they  have  no  weeds  to  contend  with,  owing  to 
their  having  no  rain  there  after  a  certain  time  of  the  year,  while  in 
Nebraska  we  have  showers  all  the  summer,  thus  encouraging  the  growth 
of  weeds,  and  the  weeds  made  beet  culture  more  difficult  for  those  who 
did  not  know  just  how  to  go  to  work.  They  do  know  now,  and  are 
raising  the  finest  kind  of  beets.  A  sugar  beet  that  is  said  to  be  a  15 
per  cent  beet  or  a  20  per  cent  beet,  does  not  mean  15  or  20  per  cent 
of  sugar:  it  means  15  per  cent  of  saccharine  matter,  some  of  it  being 
sugar,  some  of  it  being  molasses,  and  that  molasses  is  not  good  to  refine, 
like  cane  molasses.  It  is  only  used  to  make  alcohol.  This  will  develop 
into  putting  up  distilleries  alongside  of  the  sugar  factories. 

Senator  Johnston:  I  take  it  for  granted,  sir,  the  gentleman  in 
referring  to  Nebraska  farmers  had  no  allusion  to  those  present  (laugh- 
ter). 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  27 

Mr.  Black:  Mr.  Chairman,  it  seems  to  me  that  one  of  the  main 
purposes  of  this  Congress  is  to  devise  some  plan  for  carrying  its  reso- 
lutions into  effect.  As  I  understand,  the  Executive  Committee  have 
that  matter  in  charge.  In  order  that  the  matter  may  be  brought  up  and 
fairly  discussed  before  the  house,  I  move  that  that  committee  be 
requested  to  present  whatever  plan  for  permanent  organization  they  may 
have  at  a  time  not  later  than  Wednesday  morning. 

(Mr.  Whitmore  resuming  the  chair.) 

The  Chairman:  The  chair  will  state  that  the  motion  refers  to  the 
action  taken  by  the  San  Francisco  congress,  under  which  the  Executive 
Committee  were  instructed  to  submit  to  this  Congress  some  plan  of 
organization  of  the  Congress  itself  on  a  business-like  basis.  The 
motion  now  made  by  the  gentleman  from  Washington  is  that  that  com- 
mittee be  requested  to  report  not  later  than  Wednesday  morning. 

This  motion  was  duly  seconded  and  carried. 

The  Secretary  then  read  an  invitation  from  the  Liggett  &  Myers 
Tobacco  Co.,  to  visit  their  works. 

The  Chairman:  The  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Entertainment 
has  requested  some  announcements  to  be  made.  It  was  the  special 
request  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Congress  that  nothing  should 
be  done  in  the  way  of  entertainment  to  interfere  with  its  business,  but 
that  such  entertainment  should  be  postponed  if  possible  until  after  the 
business  was  transacted.  The  Committee  on  Entertainment,  however, 
have  felt  that  some  courtesies  should  be  extended  in  the  way  of  enter- 
tainment of  the  guests  during  the  session  of  the  congress.  They  have 
therefore  arranged  so  that  any  delegate  may  have  a  ticket  to  our  theaters 
any  evening  during  the  session  by  applying  at  the  Secretary's  office  in 
the  front  of  the  building.  Those  tickets,  however,  will  not  secure 
reserved  seats,  from  the  fact  that  no  arrangements  could  be  made  for 
reserved  seats  unless  a  definite  number  were  secured.  Therefore  gen- 
tlemen taking  those  tickets  will  have  to  get  their  seats  at  the  box  office 
of  the  theater. 

A  general  programme  of  entertainment  is  outlined  as  follows :  — 

Thursday  being  Thanksgiving  Day,  it  has  been  taken  for  granted 
that  there  will  be  no  session  during  the  day.  It  is  proposed  to  start 
from  the  Planters'  House,  take  a  drive  through  the  city  and  out  to  the 
Fair  Grounds,  where  a  lunch  or  collation  will  be  served,  drive  to  Forest 
Park  and  then  return  in  time  for  dinner  at  five  o'clock. 

On  Thursday  evening  there  will  be  a  grand  symphony  concert 
in  the  Grand  Music  Hall  of  this  building,  to  which  each  delegate 
will  be  entitled  to  tickets,  which  will  be  ready  for  distribution  on 
Wednesday. 

I  need  not  express  the  urgent  desire  of  the  Executive  Committee 
that  as  many  delegates  as  possible  will  attend  our  evening  sessions. 


28  Report  of  Proceedings 

Senator  Johnston:  Mr.  Chairman,  the  Committee  on  Credentials 
will  be  able  to  report  in  a  few  moments. 

The  Chairman:  Another  resolution  has  been  offered  to  the  Chair 
without  any  name  attached,  and  not  from  the  floor,  and  it  will  be  sent 
back  to  the  mover  if  he  will  claim  it. 

Mr.  Trimble:'  Mr.  Chairman,  a  resolution  was  carried  that  as  soon 
as  the  gentleman  got  through  with  the  speech  we  would  hear  the  report 
of  the  Committee  on  Credentials.  I  would  like  to  hear  that  report  if  it 
is  ready. 

The  Chairman  :  The  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Credentials  has 
just  stated  that  that  report  is  not  ready,  but  it  will  be  ready  in  a  few 
moments  if  the  congress  desires  to  wait  for  it. 

The  Committee  on  Order  of  Business  is  ready  to  report ;  the  report 
is  in  order,  or  it  may  be  deferred  until  morning. 

It  was  moved  by  a  delegate  from  Nebraska  to  adjourn  until  to- 
morrow morning's  session. 

The  Chairman:  Before  that  motion  is  put,  the  Chair  desires  to  state 
that  this  evening  we  are  to  have  a  session,  at  which  "Irrigation"  has 
been  made  the  special  order,  therefore  the  motion  should  not  be  put  in 
that  particular  form. 

The  Delegate  :  I  mean  until  the  next  regular  session. 

The  Chairman  :  If  that  motion  prevails,  the  first  thing  in  order  at 
our  morning's  session  will  be  the  reports  of  those  committees  which  are 
ready  to  make  them. 

Mr.  Trimble  :  If  you  please,  there  was  a  resolution  presented  here 
and  passed  that  the  Committee  on  Credentials  was  to  report  before  this 
convention  adjourned,  and  that  the  names  of  the  delegates  selected  by 
the  different  States  and  territories  would  be  handed  into  the  Chairman 
of  this  convention  this  evening. 

The  Chairman:  The  Chair  rules  that  the  motion  to  adjourn,  made  by 
the  gentleman  from  Nebraska,  is  in  order.  The  motion  is  that  we 
now  adjourn  until  the  time  fixed  for  the  next  session,  as  the  Chair 
understands  it. 

Senator  Johnston:  Mr.  President,  I  Will  ask  the  gentleman  from 
Nebraska  to  withdraw  his  motion  for  just  a  moment.  We  are  about 
ready  to  report  from  the  Committee  on  Credentials,  and  some  members 
are  anxious  to  find  whether  we  have  any  members  or  not.  I  would  ask 
the  gentleman  to  withdraw  his  motion  to  adjourn  until  we  hear  that 
report. 

Motion  withdrawn. 

Senator  Johnston  :  The  Committee  on  Credentials  is  ready  to  report. 

The  Chairman:  The  Chair  will  state  that  the  Committee  on  Rules 
and  Order  of  Business  has  already  handed  in  its  report,  and,  therefore, 
in  the  absence  of  any  motion  to  the  contrary,  it  takes  precedence. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  29 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Rules  and  Order  of  Business  was 
then  read,  as  follows: — 

"Your  Committee  respectfully  reports  that  it  organized  as  follows: 
Chairman,  Sylvester  Watts  of  Arizona;  Secretary,  Henry  Volmer  of  Iowa,  and 
agreed  upon    the    following    order    of  business: 

(Signed)  Sylvester  Watts,  Secretary. 

1st.  Beading,  correcting  and  approving  the  minutes. 

2d.  Introduction,  reading  and  referring  of  resolutions. 

3d.  Reports  of  committees. 

4th.  The  congress  will  meet  at  10  a.  m.,  2:30  p.  m.  and  7:30  p.  m. 

5th.  Cushing's  Manual  to  be  used  as  a  guide  on  all  parliamentary  ques- 
tions. 

6th.  Tuesday  morning  shall  be  devoted  to  miscellaneous  business. 

7th.  Tuesday  afternoon  and  evening  shall  be  devoted  to  the  consideration 
of  the  financial  question. 

8th.  Wednesday  morning  to  miscellaneous  business. 

9th  Wednesday  afternoon,  transportation,  railroads,  public  and  arid  lands. 

10.  Wednesday  evening,  Nicaragua  Canal. 

11th.  Miscellaneous  business  may  be  called  up  at  any  time  after  the 
regular  order  is  exhausted. 

12.  On  roll-call  each  delegation  is  entitled  to  vote  10  votes,  as  representa- 
tive of  its  State  or  Territory.  If  more  than  10  delegates  are  present  from 
any  State  or  Territory,  it  is  entitled  to  as  many  votes  as  it  has  delegates 
present,  provided  it  shall  not  exceed  30  votes  for  each  State  or  Territory. 

13th.  Introducers  of  a  subject  may  speak  10  minutes  and  close  the  debate 
with  a  5  minutes'  address,  the  other  speakers  to  be  restricted  to  7  minutes. 

14th.  All  resolutions  shall  be  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions 
without  debate." 

The  adoption  of  the  report  was  moved. 

Mr.  F.  J.  Cannon  moved  to  amend  by  striking  out  the  words  "  pro- 
vided that  no  State  or  Territory  shall  cast  more  than  30  votes." 

The  point  of  order  was  then  made  by  a  delegate  from  Iowa  that  this 
being  a  delegate  convention,  no  one  has  a  right  to  vote  in  this  conven- 
vention  except  upon  proper  credentials  passed  upon  by  this  convention, 
and  as  long  as  the  Committee  on  Credentials  has  not  submitted  its 
report,  no  business  can  be  conducted. 

The  Chairman  :  The  point  of  order  is  well  taken  and  sustained.  The 
Committee  on  Credentials  should  have  made  its  report  first,  and  the 
Chair  will  state  that  when  the  Committee  was  ready  to  report  it  was 
his  intention  to  have  asked  a  delay  in  acting  upon  this  until  the  report 
of  the  Committee  on  Credentials  had  been  made.  If  no  objection  is 
offered,  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Credentials  will  make  his 
report,  and  immediately  after  that  report  is  made,  the  action  on  this 
report  which  has  just  been  read  will  be  in  order. 

Senator  Johnston  :  I  will  ask  the  Secretary  to  read  the  report. 

The  Secretary  then  read  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Credentials, 


30  Report  of  Proceedings 

recommending  that  the  list  of  names  presented  by  the  Secretary  be 
adopted  as  the  list  of  accredited  delegates  to  the  convention. 

The  Chairman:  The  Chair  understands  then  that  the  names  in  that 
book  are  the  names  which  the  Committee  decided  to  be  entitled  to  the 
position  of  delegates  on  the  floor. 

Senator  Johnston:  Yes,  sir.  I  will  state  for  the  benefit  of  the 
members  present,  that  there  has  been  a  great  deal  of  care  taken  in  the 
filing  of  all  the  credentials,  and  a  great  deal  of  credit  is  due  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  for  the  very  excellent  manner  in  which  they  have  taken 
care  of  this  business  by  filing  carefully  every  credential  that  has  been 
presented  to  them.  The  Committee  on  Credentials  has  taken  those 
and  the  credentials  that  have  been  presented  to  it  and  from  those  cre- 
dentials we  make  our  report  and  the  names  are  inserted  in  that  report. 

The  Chairman:  As  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee,  I  desire 
to  state  just  the  position  of  this  report  before  the  house.  The  Execu- 
tive Committee  has  kept  a  complete  record  of  every  delegate  appointed, 
with  the  appointing  power  and  the  post-office  address  of  the  delegate. 
This  list  was  handed  to  the  Committee  on  Credentials,  to  which,  as  the 
Chair  understands,  they  have  added  some  names  of  persons  who 
have  brought  their  credentials  with  them,  and  their  report  is  that  the 
official  list  of  the  Secretary  as  submitted  by  him  be  made  their  report 
of  those  who  are  entitled  to  seats  on  this  floor.  As  he  has  already 
said,  all  the  official  documents  connected  with  these  appointments  are 
in  the  hands  of  the  Secretary,  and  this  is  a  transcript  of  the  names. 
The  Chair  supposes  you  do  not  wish  to  have  them  all  read.  As  he 
understands  it,  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Credentials  amounts  to 
this  —  that  the  Secretary's  list  of  delegates  be  made  the  official  list  of 
this  congress. 

Senator  Johnston:  Yes,  sir;  that  is  correct. 

Mr.  F.  J.  Cannon  :  I  rise  to  a  point  of  inquiry.  Does  the  Secre- 
tary's list  provideany  names  other  than  those  of  persons  who  presented 
credentials? 

The  Chairman:  The  Chair  will  state  that  the  Secretary's  list  con- 
sists of  appointments  made  by  the  appointing  powers.  For  instance 
the  governor  of  a  State  notified  the  Executive  Committee  that  he  had 
appointed  10  delegates,  and  gave  their  addresses.  Those  names  were 
entered  as  delegates  appointed  by  the  governor.  And  the  same  in 
regard  to  delegates  appointed  by  others. 

Mr.  Cannon:  Permit  me  to  continue  the  inquiry — regardless  of 
whether  the  individuals  themselves  appointed  have  appeared  at  this 
congress  or  not? 

The  Chairman:  The  Chair  understands  that  to  be  the  report  of  the 
Committee  —  that  this  be  made  the  official  list  entitled  to  seats. 

Senator  Johnston  :  In  addition  to  the  persons  who  have  presented 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  31 

credentials,  we  have  made  a  recommendation  at  the  end  of  our  report, 
which  will  be  read.  The  Committee  have  no  other  authority,  no  other 
means  of  coming  to  a  conclusion  than  to  take  the  names  presented  to 
them.  We  could  not  tell  whether  those  gentlemen  are  present  in  St. 
Louis  or  not.  We  could  not  go  out  in  St.  Louis  to  find  a  man.  We 
simply  took  the  papers  and  acted  upon  them,  and  all  the  papers  that 
have  come  to  us  duly  accredited,  we  accredited  as  members  of  this 
convention. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  report  be  adopted. 

Gov.  Waite  :  It  seems  to  me  it  will  be  very  proper  to  read  this  list. 

The  Chairman:  The  Chair  will  state  that  it  will  take  an  hour  at 
least  to  read  those  names. 

Senator  Johnston  :  I  will  say  again  that  every  person  coming  here 
duly  accredited  from  the  appointing  power,  has  been  placed  upon  that 
list. 

Gov.  Waite  :  That  is  satisfactory  to  me. 

Mr.  Cannon:  Mr.  Chairman,  if  I  properly  understand  the  character 
of  this  report,  I  object  to  it,  for  the  reason  that  it  may  admit  to  mem- 
bership upon  the  floor  of  this  Congress  men  who  are  not  here.  In  other 
words,  it  may  entitle  a  delegation  to  vote  the  strength  of  men  who  are 
not  present,  and  men  who  are  here  who  come  properly  accredited,  will 
not  be  entitled  to  vote  on  the  floor  of  this  convention.  This  report  of 
the  Committee  on  Credentials  proposes  that  all  the  States  which  were 
entitled  to  appoint  a  certain  number  of  delegates  shall  have  the  names 
of  those  delegates  accredited  here  as  members  of  this  convention.  The 
report  of  the  Committee  on  Rules  proposes  that  no  State,  no  matter 
what  its  representation,  and  no  matter  how  many  men  appear,  shall 
have  more  than  30  votes,  a  double  injustice.  I  object  to  this  report, 
because  it  may  give  names  of  men  who  have  never  appeared  here,  and 
whose  credentials  have  never  yet  been  presented.  No  man  should  be 
entitled  to  have  his  name  on  the  list  of  delegates  who  has  not  appeared 
at  St.  Louis  and  offered  his  credentials  to  this  assemblage. 

A  Delegate  (from  Nebraska) :  I  left  my  credentials  in  the  bank. 

Senator  Johnston  :  If  your  name  has  been  sent  to  the  Secretary  and 
properly  credited,  your  name  is  on  the  list.  No  State  will  vote  an 
absentee.  If  they  have  more  than  30  members  here,  according  to  the 
report  of  the  Committee,  they  shall  have  but  30  votes.  If  there  is 
only  one  man  here  —  if  the  Governor  has  appointed  two  men  and  only 
one  of  them  is  here,  he  will  be  entitled  to  10  votes.  If  there  are  more 
than  10  persons  present,  they  will  be  entitled  to  vote  for  each  individ- 
ual present  until  they  reach  30. 

The  Chairman:  The  Chair  desires  to  state  that  this  discussion  is 
not  in  order.  We  are  not  discussing  the  report  of  the  Committee  on 
Order  of  Business.     That  Committee  determines  how  you  shall  vote. 


32  Report  of  Proceedings 

This  simply  determines  who  shall  be  recorded  as  on  the  list  of  dele- 
gates. The  objections  urged  will  be  in  order  when  the  report  of  the 
Committee  on  Order  of  Business  comes  up. 

Judge  Goodwin:  Mr.  Chairman,  it  seems  to  me  the  fairer  way 
would  be  to  accept  this  report,  refer  it  back  to  the  Committee,  with 
instructions  to  the  Chairman  of  each  delegation  from  each  State  and 
Territory,  to  submit  this  evening  the  names  of  the  members  entitled 
from  their  respective  States  and  Territories,  and  report  to-morrow 
morning. 

The  question  was  then  put  on  the  motion  to  adopt  the  report  and  it 
was  carried. 

Senator  Johnston:  There  is  one  recommendation  — 

The  Clerk  (reading):  "We  further  recommend  that  the  following 
names  be  added  to  the  list: — 

Hon.  Geo.  T.  Anthony  of  Kansas, 

Mrs.  H.  C.  Roach  of  California, 

Mrs.  Wm.  Johnston  of  California, 

J.  C.  Green  of  Alaska.'.' 

Senator  Johnston  :  We  ask  that  they  be  added  as  being  members  of 
the  Congress. 

On  motion  duly  seconded  and  carried  this  recommendation  was 
adopted. 

The  Chairman  :  The  business  before  the  house  now  is  the  consid- 
eration of  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Rules  and  Order  of 
Business. 

E.  R.  Ridgeley  (of  Kansas):  Mr.  Chairman,  I  rise  to  ask  that  we 
finish  up  this  credential  work,  so  that  we  may  not  in  our  carelessness 
forget  delegates  who  may  be  honestly  on  their  way  to  the  city  at  this 
hour.  I  therefore  move  that  any  delegate  who  may  arrive,  not  included 
in  this  report,  coming  with  his  proper  credentials,  upon  presentation 
and  filing  of  the  same  with  the  Secretary,  may  be  added  to  the  list  as 
entitled  to  vote  and  allotted  to  his  seat. 

The  Chairman:  This  will  be  done,  if  there  is  no  objection. 

It  was  then  moved  to  adjourn  until  7:30  p.  m. 

Gov.  Prince  :  Mr.  President,  before  that  is  done  will  some  time  be 
specified  when  the  report  of  the  other  committee  is  to  be  taken  up? 
Some  of  us  may  not  be  here  to-night.  This  matter  of  the  basis  of 
representation  is  fundamental.  The  change  that  is  proposed  will  change 
the  entire  character  of  this  organization  in  its  voting  power.  It  is 
something  that  deserves  the  fullest  consideration  and  fullest  discussion, 
and  it  certainly  should  not  be  brought  up,  for  instance,  late  to-night, 
when  there  is  a  small  attendance.  If  the  gentleman  who  moved  to  take 
a  recess  until  half-past  seven  will  kindly  withdraw  that  for  a  moment 
for  the  purpose,  I  would  like  to  move  that  the  report  of  the  other  com- 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  33 

mittee  be  made  the  special  order  at  the  opening  session  to-morrow 
morning,  in  order  that  then  these  matters  may  be  fully  discussed. 

Motion  to  adjourn  withdrawn. 

It  was  then  moved  by  Gov.  Prince  and  duly  seconded  that  the  con- 
sideration of  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Rules  and  Order  of  Busi- 
ness be  made  the  special  order  for  Tuesday  morning  at  10  o'clock,  or 
as  soon  thereafter  as  it  can  be  reached  in  the  ordinary  course  of  busi- 
ness. 

Col.  Leighton  of  St.  Louis  then  requested  that  delegates  assemble  to 
select  members  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  these  names  to  be 
handed  to  the  Secretary,  under  the  resolution  adopted  by  the  congress, 
to-morrow  morning  before  the  session  opens. 

Adjourned  until  7:30  p.  m.  Monday  evening. 

Monday  Evening. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  President  Whitmore. 

The  Chairman:  The  Chair  no  doubt  expresses  the  feeling  of  the 
members  in  voicing  his  regret  at  the  small  attendance  this  evening. 
This  is  probably  partly  clue  to  the  entertainments  arranged  by  the 
Entertainment  Committee  and  partly  to  the  delay  in  the  hotels  owing 
to  their  crowded  condition.  The  time  is  now  so  far  spent  that  in  order 
to  complete  the  programme  it  is  necessary  to  get  down  to  work.  The 
Chair  would  suggest  to  the  gentlemen  in  the  rear  that  they  come  for- 
ward. It  will  be  better  for  the  congress  if  the  audience  is  as  much  in 
a  body  as  possible. 

Carrying  out  the  view  expressed  this  morning  in  regard  to  presiding 
over  the  congress  in  my  own  city,  I  shall  call  to  the  chair  to-night  the 
pioneer  of  irrigation  in  America,  especially  among  those  who  are  here 
present,  and  I  will  request  the  Hon.  George  Q.  Cannon  of  Utah  to 
preside  at  the  evening  session  (applause). 

I  have  the  honor  of  introducing  Hon.  George  Q.  Cannon  of  Utah. 

Mr.  Cannon  :  This  question  of  irrigation  is  one  that  we  have  been 
compelled  to  study  practically,  and  that  which  we  have  done  has  been 
done  through  the  experience  of  long  years.  It  is  most  interesting  to  us 
who  have  lived  in  Utah,  and  who  have  lived  by  irrigation,  who  have 
proved  its  efficacy,  and  the  many  advantages  of  the  system  of  irriga- 
tion, to  see  the  almost  universal  interest  which  is  now  being  taken  in 
this  important  question.  It  is  very  gladdening  to  us,  because  the  day 
has  been  when  we  were  looked  upon  as  occupying  a  very  inferior  posi- 
tion in  our  country,  and  liable  to  disadvantages  which  the  rainwater 
sections  of  the  country  did  not  possess.  But  we  have  proved  now  for 
47  years  that  men  and  women  can  live,  and  live  comfortably  and  hap- 
pily and  contentedly  in  a  region  that  is  irrigated.     Generations  have 


34  Report  of  Proceedings 

grown  up  in  our  land  possessing  all  the  advantages  and  all  the  culture 
and  all  the  means  of  enjoyment  that  are  possessed  by  any  section  of 
our  country  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  I  say,  therefore,  again, 
that  we  are  very  heartily  glad  to  have  this  subject  considered. 

I  have  recently  come  from  Kansas,  where  I  attended  a  convention  at 
the  city  of  Hutchinson,  and  the  condition  of  Western  Kansas  is  some- 
thing deplorable.  But  I  think  measures  are  now  being  taken  that  will 
result  in  great  good  to  that  people  and  to  that  land  —  the  system  which 
is  being  looked  upon  with  favor,  of  farmers  cultivating  small  holdings 
and  devoting  their  attention  to  intense  cultivation  of  the  soil  —  this 
system  is  receiving  general  favor,  and  no  doubt  if  it  is  followed  up  it 
will  be  attended  with  the  best  of  results  for  that  people. 

It  is  my  pleasure  to  introduce  to  the  Trans-Mississippi  Congress  this 
evening  Professor  F.  H.  Newell  of  the  United  States  Geological  Sur- 
vey, who  will  deliver  an  address  on  "  The  Water  Supply  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Region.' '     (Applause.) 

PROFESSOR  NEWELL'S   ADDRESS. 

Mr.  Chairman ,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention:  —  The  water  resources 
of  this  country,  especially  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  regions  and  the  great  plains, 
are  little  understood  or  appreciated  by  our  people,  and  even  by  you  gentlemen 
who  have  spent  a  life-time  in  the  West.  It  is  still  far  from  being  appreciated  in 
its  true  value.  It  had  been  my  intention  to-night  to  try  to  give  some  facts 
bearing  upon  the  resources  especially  of  this  somewhat  unknown  and  little 
utilized  area,  but  a  hoarseness,  contracted  whilst  speaking  at  Hutchinson  with 
our  friend  Mr.  Cannon,  makes  speaking  somewhat  painful,  and  I  must  content 
myself  with  a  few  generalizations,  as  to  the  development  of  these  resources* 
and  proceed  in  an  unsystematic  way  to  follow  the  immediate  needs  of  the 
pioneers. 

Water  for  irrigation  has  been  used  in  many  places  rashly  and  wastefully, 
with  no  regard  for  economy  or  future  needs.  Our  ideas  as  to  how  much  water 
can  be  acquired,  and  consequently  how  much  can  be  done  with  this  water,  are 
often  crude  and  unreliable.  In  this,  we  have  not  estimated  the  possibilities  of 
development,  or  cast  them  aside  as  too  insignificant  for  our  attention.  On  the 
other  hand,  interested  persons  have  overestimated  the  volume  of  some  of  our 
streams  and  have  projected  works  which  were  worthless,  or  have  sold  water 
rights  which  were  in  effect  valueless,  these  being  purchased  by  innocent  farmers, 
who  have  endeavored  in  vain  to  make  a  living.  In  short,  this  has  cast  disre- 
pute in  many  cases  upon  laudable  projects  which  should  now  be  under  way. 
The  public  at  large  is  far  from  that  accurate  conception  of  possibilities  leading 
to  confidence  in  the  future.  Not  only  is  this  true  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  regions, 
but  also  on  the  great  plains.  There  are  sources  of  water,  often  small  in  them- 
selves, but  in  the  aggregate  of  a  good  deal  of  importance  in  the  development 
of  that  vast  area.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  waters  which  run  under- 
ground in  the  pervious  gravel,  and  which  to  a  large  extent  may  be  pumped  by 
mills  of  wind  or  steam,  rendering  possible  the  supplying  of  the  production  of 
a  sufficient  amount  of  food  for  the  farmer's  family  and  having  perhaps  some- 
thing to  sell  to  the  market. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  35 

It  has  been  my  business  for  a  number  of  years  to  investigate  the  condition  of 
the  water  resources  of  the  United  States,  and  the  results  have  been  shown  in  a 
general  way  in  the  volumes  which  lie  before  me.  It  will  be  better  for  me  to 
refer  in  a  general  way  to  these  details  than  for  me  to  take  your  time  in  passing 
upon  them.  These  volumes,  which  are  part  of  the  Series  Report  upon  Irriga- 
tion and  Water  Supply  of  the  Geological  Survey,  I  propose  to  present  to  the 
Trans-Mississippi  Congress  through  your  President,  in  order  that  those  who 
are  interested  may  have  an  opportunity  of  referring  to  them.  I  also  would  call 
to  your  attention  a  volume  published  by  the  Census  Office,  giving  the  statistics 
of  irrigation  of  the  Western  part  of  the  United  States,  and  giving  the  water 
supply  of  the  mountain  region  by  States  and  counties. 

Instead  of  presenting  the  diagrams  which  I  had  designed,  I  will  merely  call 
attention  to  a  number  of  maps  on  the  wall.  The  farthest  map  from  me  repre- 
sents in  a  general  way  the  distribution  of  the  rainfall  in  the  United  States,  the 
heavy  blue  showing  the  largest  amount  of  rainfall  during  the  year,  some  60  or 
70  inches,  and  the  lighter  blue  showing  less  and  less  rainfall,  showing  least  in 
the  portion  of  the  country  immediately  West  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region. 
That  map  is  doubtless  familiar  to  you  all.  You  are  all  familiar  with  the 
enormous  amount  of  rain  along  the  Western  coast  and  along  the  Gulf,  and  the 
shading  off  of  the  supply  on  the  plains. 

I  have  presented  another  map  which  shows  in  a  similar  manner  the  amount 
of  water  which  flows  over  the  ground  into  the  streams.  The  first  map  shows 
the  amount  which  flows  into,  and  the  second  which  flows  over.  You  will  see 
on  the  Atlantic  Coast,  the  Appalachian  region,  the  enormous  amount  of  water 
that  flows  off  the  ground,  twenty  inches  or  more;  but  as  we  go  West  the 
amount  which  flows  off  is  less  and  less  until  in  the  great  region  from  central 
Texas  to  central  Washington  there  is  a  vast  region  where  the  amount  of  water 
aggregates  from  nothing  up  to  two  inches  in  depth,  flowing  off  the  ground  dur- 
ing the  whole  year.  The  darker  patches  bordering  that  area,  indicate  the 
larger  amount  of  water  which  flows  away  from  the  mountains.  That  shows  in 
a  very  general  way  the  result  which  we  have  arrived  at,  by  a  study  of  individual 
rivers  scattered  throughout  the  country.  It  would  be  possible  to  show  the 
diagrams  giving  the  fluctuations  of  these  rivers  from  month  to  month  and 
bringing  out  the  possibility  of  holding  this  water  in  storage  in  suitable  reser- 
voirs. 

As  connected  with  the  subject  of  water  supply,  I  will  call  your  attention  to 
the  third  map,  which  shows  the  vacant  public  land  belonging  to  the  national 
government.  The  red,  the  most  brilliant,  is  the  land  which  has  been  disposed 
of  by  the  national  government,  either  given  away,  or  sold,  or  homesteaded. 
The  lighter  color  shows  the  amount  of  land  still  in  the  hands  of  the  national 
government,  and  as  a  rule  open  for  entry  and  settlement  under  the  homestead 
act.  This  in  the  aggregate  amounts  to  one-third  of  the  United  States,  exclusive 
of  Alaska.  The  bands  of  light  red  running  across  the  map  are  the  transconti- 
nental railroad  grants ;  within  these  belts  every  alternate  section  being  given 
to  railroad  corporations.  The  green  patches  on  the  map  indicate  the  forest 
reservation,  aggregating  some  18,000,000  acres,  lands  being  held  by  the 
government  for  forestry  purposes.  The  greenish  or  yellowish  tint  shows  the 
Indian  reservations. 

Now,  as  you  will  see  from  that  map,  a  close  examination  of  vacant  public 
lands  shows  that  there  is  some  in  the  States  of  Florida,  Alabama,  Missis- 
sippi and  even  up  into  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota,  but  they  are  to  a  large 
extent   located  West  of  Western  Kansas,   or  the   middle   of  Nebraska.    In 


36  Report  of  Proceedings 

other  words,  they  coincide  most  nearly  with  the  portion  of  the  United  States 
where  the  run-off  and  the  rainfall  is  exceedingly  small,  or  where  the  moun- 
tains are  so  high  and  rough  as  to  render  agriculture  almost  impracticable. 
The  fate  of  these  vacant  public  lands  now  rests  with  the  people,  and  I 
present  this  map  in  order  that  you  may  have  at  a  glance  some  conception 
of  the  magnitude  of  the  public  domain  still  remaining  in  the  hands  of 
Uncle  Sam.  Regretting  that  I  cannot  go  into  the  subject  more  satisfactorily, 
I  will  merely  say  in  conclusion  that  the  work  which  has  been  carried  on  by 
the  Geological  Survey  in  this  line  is  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  and  should 
be  brought , more  directly  to  the  people's  attention,  that  they  may  judge  of 
its  value,  as  to  whether  it  is  well  done,  and  they  may  be  able  to  aid  its 
continuation  in  order  that  it  may  lead  to  a  more  definite  knowledge  of  the 
resources  of  the  country  and  to  the  utilization  of  those  resources,  especially 
of  water  for  irrigation  or  for  power,  such  as  to  bring  about  prosperity,  to 
bring  employment  to  the  West  and  to  lead  to  happy  homes  and  contented 
population  (applause). 

The  Chairman:  We  shall  next  hear  from  Hon.  Elwood  Mead,  State 
Engineer  of  the  State  of  Wyoming,  and  President  of  the  National 
Irrigation  Congress,  whom  it  is  my  pleasure  to  introduce. 

ADDRESS  OF  HON.  ELWOOD  MEAD  — RECLAIMING  THE  ARID  LANDS; 

In  almost  two-fifths  of  this  country  the  conditions  of  nature  must  be 
transformed  before  it  can  become  the  self-supporting  habitation  of 
man.  An  inadequate  rainfall  must  be  supplemented  by  a  water  supply 
secured  through  the  work  of  man  before  the  soil  can  be  made  to  pro- 
duce its  harvest. 

In  this  region  the  United  States  is  the  greatest  land-owner.  Over  six 
hundred  million  of  acres  of  this  domain  is  under  the  ownership  and 
control  of  the  Federal  authorities.  Thus  far,  this  authority  has  done 
little  or  nothing  to  secure  a  rational  or  satisfactory  solution  of  the 
problem  of  reclaiming  these  lands.  The  attitude  of  the  General  Gov- 
ernment in  regard  to  the  development  of  the  arid  States  has  been  that 
of  an  alien  landlord  who  made  no  improvements  and  paid  no  taxes. 
The  time  has  come  when  this  condition  of  affairs  should  cease,  when 
the  arid  region  should  have  laws  suited  to  its  conditions,  when  the 
requirements  of  its  climate  and  the  necessities  of  its  conditions  should 
be  met  by  suitable  legislative  enactment  and  industrial  conditions. 

The  arid  West  is  the  hope  of  the  future  homeseeker.  Its  reclama- 
tion is  the  greatest  industrial  problem  now  before  the  people  of 
this  country.  On  the  success  of  this  rests  the  growth  and  pros- 
perity of  the  seventeen  arid  States  and  Territories.  Its  accomplish- 
ment offers  the  greatest  and  most  profitable  avenue  for  the  invest- 
ment of  capital  and  for  the  employment  of  idle  and  homeless 
labor  which  this  century  has  yet  witnessed.  It  is  a  problem,  therefore, 
which  does  not  concern  the  arid  States  alone.     The  magnitude  of  the 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  37 

obstacles  to  be  overcome  and  the  importance  of  the  results  to  be  se- 
cured makes  it  a  great  national  question  and  one  well  worthy  the  con- 
sideration of  this  body.  I  know  of  no  more  appropriate  place  to 
discuss  this  question  than  this  city.  From  the  days  of  the  Oregon 
Trail  to  the  present,  it  has  been  the  great  gateway  through  which  has 
passed  the  discoverers  of  the  arid  region,  the  settlers  in  that  region 
and  the  wealth  and  enterprise  which  have  done  so  much  to  develop  its 
resources.  Not  only  has  this  city  been  the  great  gateway  of  discovery, 
settlement  and  enterprise,  but  this  State  has  contributed  in  a  larger 
degree  to  people  the  remote  sections  of  the  West  than  perhaps  any 
other  State  in  the  Union.  There  is  scarcely  a  settlement  too  small  or 
region  too  remote  to  contain  one  or  more  sons  of  this  State,  and  I 
have  no  doubt  that  a  large  percentage  of  the  attendance  upon  this  con- 
gress have  been  drawn  here  as  much  by  a  prospect  of  a  renewal  of 
home  ties  as  by  a  hope  of  furthering  the  business  interests  of  the 
homes  of  their  adoption. 

It  is  my  purpose  to  outline  what,  in  my  judgment,  is  the  best  means 
of  accomplishing  this  work ;  to  lay  before  you  the  requirements  to  be 
fulfilled ;  in  order  that  there  may  be  a  satisfactory  return  to  canal 
builders  and  prosperity  and  content  for  users  of  water.  Many  plans 
have  been  proposed.  Some  favor  the  building  of  canals  with  appro- 
priations from  the  national  treasury  ;  others  favor  State  appropriations. 
I  am  here  to  explain  how  it  may  be  accomplished  by  private  enterprise. 

There  are  many  objections  to  making  this  work  depend  upon 
national  appropriations.  The  construction  of  a  Federal  building  costs 
twice  as  much  as  the  construction  of  an  equally  commodious  and 
handsome  structure  by  private  means.  It  also  takes  more  time.  Un- 
certain and  inadequate  appropriations  nearly  doubles  the  cost,  and 
time  of  completion,  of  river  and  harbor  improvements.  In  many  of 
these,  the  outlay  required  to  maintain  unfinished  work  is  almost  as 
great  as  the  cost  of  the  work  itself.  To  place  the  diversion  of  the 
rivers  of  half  a  continent  under  such  management  would  be  to  make 
the  growth  of  that  section  depend  upon  political  influences.  It  would 
be  a  move  in  the  direction  of  increased,  instead  of  lessened,  cost  of 
irrigation  works,  a  vital  objection  whether  the  whole  country  or  the 
users  of  water  ultimately  pay  for  it.  So  far  as  State  works  are  con- 
cerned some  will  ultimately  be  built,  but,  at  present,  lack  of  means 
and  lack  of  available  resources  in  the  arid  States  will  prevent.  In  my 
own  State  it  is,  at  present,  out  of  the  question.  The  constitutional 
limit  of  bonded  indebtedness  has  been  reached.  In  addition  the 
causes,  which  have  retarded  individual  and  corporate  effort,  have  been 
equally  effective  in  preventing  the  inauguration  or  possible  success  of 
State  works. 

A  State  government  extending  over  63,000,000  acres  of  land,  with  a 


38  Report  of  Proceedings 

total  population  of  only  60,000  people,  with  less  than  five  per  cent  of 
the  lands  in  the  hands  of  its  citizens,  and  subject  to  taxation,  is  not  in 
a  condition  to  undertake  the  most  stupendous  transformation  of  nature 
yet  witnessed  on  the  globe.  Such  a  State  is  only  great  in  the  extent  of 
its  unused  opportunities.  How  great  those  opportunities  are 
we  have  as  yet  a  very  inadequate  conception.  The  four 
great  rivers  which  have  their  origin  in  Wyoming  will  water  an 
acreage  as  extensive  as  that  fertilized  by  the  Nile.  The  land  which 
can  be  reclaimed  in  a  single  arid  State  is  as  great  in  area  as  that  which 
in  Egypt  requires  for  its  cultivation  the  labor  of  2,000,000  of  people, 
supports  the  court  with  its  multitude  of  idle  and  profligate  attendants ; 
the  illimitable  number  of  religious  and  fanatical  sects;  the  army;  the 
crowds  of  native  and  foreign  dignitaries  which  throng  its  cities,  in  all 
over  seven  million  people ;  a  national  debt  of  five  hundred  million ;  all 
these  draw  their  support  from  the  bounty  of  one  river  and  less  than 
six  million  acres  of  irrigated  land. 

All  that  has  been  accomplished  thus  far  has  been  the  result  of  indi- 
vidual and  corporate  effort.  The  experience  gained  has  shown  con- 
clusively one  thing,  that  existing  Federal  land  laws  are  wholly  unsuited 
to  the  conditions  and  needs  of  an  arid  region.  The  public  lands 
instead  of  being  first  settled  are  the  lands  which  await  reclamation. 
Financial  success  and  rapid  growth  have  been  most  marked  in  those 
sections  where  the  land  was  removed  from  the  operation  of  the  Federal 
land  laws.  State  lands,  Mexican  grants  and  railroad  land  grants  have 
proved  most  remunerative  to  canal  builders  and  most  attractive  to 
settlers.  This  is  exactly  the  reverse  of  what  should  be.  If  the  public 
lands  are  the  heritage  of  the  people  they  ought  to  be  made  available 
for  the  occupancy  and  use  of  the  people.  It  is  a  reproach  to  a  self- 
governing  people  that  it  should  be  said,  as  it  must  be  said,  that  the 
reclamation  of  public  land  has  in  the  past  involved  heavy  losses  to  canal 
builders  and  has  witnessed  the  greatest  absorption  of  the  irrigable  land 
by  holders  who  have  not  utilized  it  but  held  it  for  speculative  purposes. 

Because  of  the  fact  that  Federal  land  laws  permit  the  valuable  lands 
below  a  ditch  to  be  occupied  on  exactlv  the  same  terms  as  the  worthless 
lands  above  it,  ditch  building  has  been  made  a  hazardous  enterprise. 
Because  of  the  fact  that  the  homestead  law  permits  the  lands  below  a 
ditch  to  be  secured  without  reclamation  or  cultivation,  we  find  that 
more  than  half  of  the  lands  under  ditches  are  unused  and  that  over 
ninety  per  cent  of  the  canals  built  to  water  public  land  have  been 
financial  failures.  Because  the  public  land  laws  disregard  the  fact  that 
the  actual  home-seeker  in  the  arid  region  needs  less  land  instead  of 
more  land,  we  find  that  large  areas  of  the  land  most  easily  reclaimed 
have  been  absorbed  by  non-residents  under  the  Desert  Land  Law. 
These   results   are   altogether  unnecessary.     They    could    have   been 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  39 

avoided  in  the  past  by  proper  investigation  of  the  requirements  of 
irrigated  countries  and  the  framing  of  laws  to  meet  those  requirements. 

It  has  been  proposed  as  a  primitive  reform,  to  change  the  homestead 
law  and  make  title  depend  on  the  reclamation  of  the  land  and  the 
presentation  of  evidence  of  title  to  water  as  is  done  in  the  desert  land 
law.  No  homestead  in  the  arid  region  can  be  a  home  in  fact  without 
it  is  provided  with  a  water  supply.  To  require  that  settlers  should 
provide  this  before  securing  title  to  the  lands  would,  therefore,  work 
no  hardship  to  the  actual  homeseeker  while  it  would  cut  off  the  abuses 
which  now  attend  its  operation.  We  would  have  another  result.  It 
would  reduce  the  size  of  half  the  homesteads  secured,  from  160  to  40 
or  80  acres.  So  long  as  it  costs  no  more  to  secure  title  to  160  acres 
than  it  does  to  a  smaller  area,  filings  will  be  made  for  the  full  amount, 
but  if  it  is  necessary  to  provide  a  water  suppty,  and  use  it,  the  greed 
for  land  will  speedily  diminish.  That  160  acres  of  irrigable  land  is  in 
excess  of  the  actual  requirements  of  the  majority  of  settlers,  was  shown 
in  an  investigation  made  by  me  this  season.  Letters  of  inquiry  were 
sent  to  each  user  of  water  on  four  of  the  adjudicated  streams  of 
Wyoming,  asking  for  a  statement  of  the  actual  acreage  under  cultiva- 
tion this  year.  The  replies  from  three  of  the  streams  have  been  com- 
piled. Under  the  first  stream  the  average  size  of  the  cultivated  farm 
was  88  acres ;  on  stream  number  two,  62  acres  ;  and  on  the  third  stream 
45  acres.  An  80  acre  farm  would  have  more  than  supplied  the  average 
requirements  of  the  irrigators  on  these  streams. 

Such  a  reform  would,  however,  fail  to  meet  the  most  important  re- 
quirements in  the  settlement  of  the  arid  domain.  Irrigation  laws  must 
recognize  the  fact  that  the  social  and  industrial  relations  of  the  farmers 
of  an  arid  region  are  much  more  intimate  and  complex  than  is  true  of 
the  agriculture  of  humid  lands  ;  that  communal  interests  are  much  more 
important  and  that  such  interests  must  be  recognized  and  protected  by 
adequate  legislation.  The  settlers  on  humid  lands  are  independent  of 
each  other  so  far  as  their  business  interests  are  concerned.  The  pros- 
perity of  the  settlers  under  a  ditch  is  not  assured  by  fertile  soil  and 
favoring  climatic  influences.  All  these  may  go  for  naught  if  the  man- 
agement of  the  water  way  which  fertilizes  their  land  is  not  honest  and 
efficient. 

The  settlers  under  a  ditch  will  all  be  stockholders  in  a  transporta- 
tion company.  The  successful  management  of  this  property  and  their 
protection  from  abuses  and  extortion  require  that  it  be  governed  by 
well-settled  principles  of  law,  and,  that  there  should  be  an  agreement 
and  a  definite  understanding  between  the  settlers  before  their  occu- 
pancy of  the  lands,  has  been  abundantly  demonstrated  by  experience. 
The  community  interests  of  the  settlers  is  not  limited  by  their  canal 
alone.    Agricultural  success,  the  value  of  water  rights,  and  the  comfort 


40  Report  of  Proceedings 

and  content  of  water  users  depends  upon  the  efficent  supervision 
and  division  of  the  water  of  a  stream.  If  the  diversion  of  a  stream  is 
left  wholly  to  individual  inclination  and  interest  its  wafer  will  be  wasted 
by  useless  and  improperly  located  ditches ;  the  users  of  water  at  the 
head  of  the  stream  will  rob  the  users  of  water  below.  To  prevent  this, 
to  make  irrigated  agriculture  a  success  in  the  most  limited  sense,  it  is 
absolutely  indispensable  that  there  be  an  exercise  of  governmental 
authority  to  protect  the  rights  of  those  dependent  upon  the  common 
supply.  To  secure  the  best  results,  this  supervision  should  begin 
before  ditches  are  begun,  not  after  their  completion.  To  make  this 
supervision  effective  it  must  extend  over  both  land  and  water.  It  is 
useless  for  the  State  to  refuse  appropriations  of  water  from  a  stream  so 
long  as  the  Federal  government  permits  of  the  unrestricted  construction 
of  ditches,  through  the  land,  to  divert  the  water  from  the  stream.  It 
is  useless  for  the  State  to  seek  to  protect  the  rights  of  users  of  water  so 
long  as  it  can  exercise  no  control  over  the  location  or  number  of  works 
to  divert  the  common  supply.  It  is  useless  to  seek  to  protect  invest- 
ments in  canals  so  long  as  the  public  land  laws  permit  the  lands  under 
canals  to  be  absorbed  on  terms  which  invite  their  confiscation.  Here- 
tofore, adequate  supervision,  adequate  protection,  has  been  impos- 
sible. The  United  States  owned  the  land,  the  State  controlled  the 
water,  and  there  has  been  no  concert  of  action  between  the  two  authori- 
ties. 

The  opportunity  has,  however,  presented  itself  to  put  an  end  to  this 
divided  authority.  At  the  last  session  of  Congress  there  was  tacked  to 
an  appropriation  bill  one  of  the  most  important  laws  enacted  within 
twenty  years.  It  has  been  designated  as  the  cession  of  one  million 
acres  of  land  to  each  of  the  arid  States.  Strictly  speaking  it  is  not 
cession.  The  title  to  the  land  does  not  necessarily  pass  to  the  State. 
It  is  held  by  the  Federal  government  until  reclaimed,  and  until  a  settler 
has  a  rightful  claim  to  the  title.  If  the  title  passes  to  the  State  it  will 
be  simply  an  intermediate  transfer  between  the  government  and  the 
settler.  What  this  law  is,  is  an  attempt  at  concert  of  action  between 
the  Federal  and  State  authorities,  between  the  owner  of  the  land  and 
the  owner  of  the  water.  It  is  believed,  however,  that  it  will  accom- 
plish the  end  desired  by  those  who  have  advocated  absolute  cession ;  it 
will  enable  the  State  authorities  to  fix  the  conditions  of  reclamation. 
If  this  trust  is  accepted  in  the  proper  spirit  and  administered  wisely  it 
will  mark  a  new  era  in  the  development  of  the  West.  The  responsibil- 
ity resting  upon  the  legislatures  of  the  several  arid  States  will  be  greater 
this  winter  than  ever  before. 

The  State  Engineer's  Report,  of  Wyoming,  for  1894,  will  contain  the 
maps  of  canals  which  have  been  surveyed,  but  which  present  conditions 
have  prevented  being  built,  which  will  cover  and  reclaim  in  the  aggre- 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  41 

gate  over  one  million  acres  of  land.  To  insure  the  building  of  these 
canals  and  the  proper  protection  of  both  the  investor  in  their  construc- 
tion, and  the  settler  who  is  to  use  them,  the  State  should  do  two  things: 
Plans  for  canals  should  be  subject  to  State  approval,  and  no  canal 
should  be  undertaken  except  under  a  specific  contract  with  the  State 
which  will  fix  both  its  character  and  the  maximum  price  at  which  it  is 
to  be  disposed  of  to  settlers.  No  canal  should  be  undertaken  except 
under  conditions  which  provide  for  the  actual  transfer  of  the  property 
to  the  settlers,  because  experience  has  shown  that  canals  owned  by 
settlers  are  operated  at  less  expense,  with  less  friction,  and  more  satis- 
factory results  than  canals  which  furnish  water  for  hire.  This  much  is 
required  for  the  protection  of  settlers. 

On  the  other  hand  no  rival  project  should  be  permitted  to  water  the 
land  it  is  intended  to  reclaim.  No  one  should  be  permitted  to  acquire 
title  to  land  who  will  not,  or  cannot,  provide  a  water-right  therefor. 
This  is  for  the  protection  of  the  canal  builder,  the  State  and  the  settler. 
A  multiplicity  of  canals  means  a  waste  of  water  and  a  waste  of  money 
in  their  constiuction.  It  means  either  increased  cost  to  the  users  of 
water  or  a  loss  to  the  owners  of  the  surplus  canals.  To  require  that 
no  one  shall  be  permitted  to  hold  the  land  under  the  ditch  except 
actual  cultivators  of  the  soil,  and  users  of  water,  is  a  provision  indis- 
pensable for  the  protection  of  interest  in  canals,  in  the  interest  of 
users  of  water,  because  the  less  the  hazard  in  the  construction  of 
canals,  the  cheaper  the  price  at  which  they  can  be  sold. 

The  law  transfers  to  each  State  the  control  of  one  million  acres. 
The  selection  of  the  land  is  unrestricted.  The  control  of  the  land  by 
the  State  for  ten  years,  absolute.  It  can  only  dispose  of  the  land  to 
actual  settlers  after  it  has  been  reclaimed  and  in  tracts  not  to  exceed 
160  acres.  The  restrictive  provisions  are  only  those  which  each  State 
should  insert  if  the  cession  had  been  absolute.  The  interest  of  all 
parties,  ditch  builders,  water  users,  the  public  at  large,  is  in  having 
the  land  occupied  and  ditches  used.  The  question  most  often  asked 
is :  M  Does  this  law  offer  sufficient  opportunity  to  protect  and  secure  the 
money  invested  in  canals?  "  It  is  urged  that  the  land  can  not  be  made 
a  basis  of  credit ;  that  the  people  who  provide  the  money  must  do  so 
in  advance  of  settlement,  that  not  being  able  to  control  or  use  the  land 
or  to  sell  it,  they  will  be  helpless  in  case  settlers  fail  to  occupy  the 
land  and  use  the  water.  Canal  companies  under  6uch  conditions 
will  be  simply  construction  companies,  building  a  water-way 
for  a  fixed  price  and  taking  their  chances  on  finding  a  pur- 
chaser. In  one  sense  this  is  true.  There  will  be  no  opportunity  to 
speculate  in  the  rise  in  land  values,  nor  to  charge  extortionate  prices 
for  water,  but  the  disadvantage  is  not  real.  In  my  personal  experience 
more  bankrupts  have  been  made  through  ownership  of  large  tracts  of 


42  Report  of  Proceedings 

irrigated  land  than  fortunes  secured.  The  only  advantage  to  the  builder 
of  a  ditch  in  owning  the  land  under  it,  is  in  being  able  to  dispose  of  it 
to  users  of  water  and  preventing  its  speculative  absorption.  The  law  I 
have  outlined  does  this,  it  saves  the  outlay  required  for  the  purchase  of 
the  land,  it  saves  the  taxes  on  the  land  before  its  reclamation  and  dis- 
posal and  leaves  only  the  question :  Will  settlers  come  to  occupy  land 
practically  free  and  purchase  canals  at  a  price  fixed  by  the  State  and 
based  upon  cost? 

So  long  as  the  people  who  occupy  the  land  to  be  reclaimed  must  be 
users  of  water,  there  will  be  no  trouble  in  disposing  of  the  canal. 
There  is  scarcely  a  place  in  the  arid  region  where  the  construction  of  a 
canal  does  not  change  the  value  of  the  land  whirh  it  will  reclaim,  from 
being  worthless,  to  being  worth  three  or  four  times  the  cost  of  a  water 
right.  There  is  no  place  in  the  arid  region  where  canals  should  be 
built,  where  the  annual  return  from  irrigated  land  will  not  be  greater 
than  the  cost  of  a  perpetual  water-right.  So  long  as  this  is  the  case 
there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  securing  settlers  to  occupy  the  land  nor 
hardship  to  those  settlers  in  paying  a  satisfactory  price  for  a  perpetual 
water-right.  Canal  building  under  such  conditions  would  be  one  of  the 
most  secure,  if  not  lucrative,  avenues  for  investment.  It  would  relieve 
settlers  from  the  danger  of  extortionate  changes  for  water  because  they 
would  know  exactly  the  conditions  before  they  entered  upon  their  new 
employment.  It  would  open  up  one  of  the  most  inviting  avenues  for 
the  employment  of  idle  capital,  in  the  creation  of  homes  for  those  who 
need  them  and  who  will  use  them.  It  would  enable  homeseekers  to 
secure  a  share  of  the  public  domain  under  conditions  involving  less 
hardship  and  expense  than  in  the  past,  and  with  far  greater  promises  of 
security  and  prosperity  than  is  possible  under  conditions  now  pre- 
vailing. 

I  have  thus  far  considered  the  building  of  ditches  by  one  agency,  the 
cultivation  of  the  land  and  the  use  of  the  ditch  by  others,  and  have 
assumed  that  the  party  who  built  the  ditch  would  dispose  of  the  same 
to  the  settler  on  the  land.  Under  this  assumption  canal  builders  are 
simply  construction  companies,  having  no  ownership  in  the  land  or  in 
the  water  to  be  diverted.  Both  canal  and  water-rights  to  go  with  the 
land  to  be  served. 

I  have  not« considered  the  construction  of  canals  to  furnish  water  for 
hire.  Such  canals  will  undoubtedly  be  built  in  some  sections,  but  are 
not  likely  to  be  in  the  section  in  which  I  have  the  most  direct  interest. 
One  objection  to  such  canals  has  already  been  stated.  The  other  is 
the  creation  of  carrier  rights  as  distinct  from  user  rights  in  appropria- 
tion of  water. 

I  have  endeavored  to  discuss  the  phase  of  this  question  which 
presents  the  most  difficulties.     In  reality  I  believe   a  large   number 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  43 

of  canals  will  be  built  and  a  large  percentage  of  the  land  reclaimed 
through  colony  enterprises  and  community  efforts,  in  which  the  owner- 
ship of  the  canal  and  land  will  exist  in  the  same  individual  at  the  out- 
set. The  ability  to  secure  preliminary  control  of  the  land  under  pro- 
jected canals,  to  reserve  it  for  the  use  of  the  builders  of  the  canal 
until  such  time  as  they  can  profitably  occupy  it,  creates  an  opportunity 
for  homeseekers  in  the  East  to  unite  their  means  in  securing  it.  This 
is  impossible  now.  The  present  land  laws  are  based  upon  the  assump- 
tion that  each  160  acres  is  to  be  reclaimed  independently  of  its  sur- 
rounding quarter  sections.  The  historic  Greeley  colony  was  harassed 
from  its  inception  by  this  weakness  in  our  land  laws.  The  land  under 
the  canal  was  only  reserved  for  the  people  in  the  East,  working  to 
supply  the  money  to  build  it,  and  the  enterprise  saved  from  collapse 
and  disaster,  by  the  managers  on  the  ground,  having  the  sense  and 
courage  to  become  land-grabbers  and  violators  of  the  law  by  making 
filings  on  the  land  under  fictitious  names  and  thus  preventing  it  being 
absorbed  by  those  desiring  to  reap  the  benefits  of  the  improvements 
without  contributing  thereto. 

The  time  has  come  for  the  sage  brush  and  cactus  to  give  way  to 
something  more  ornamental  or  useful,  for  the  nomadic  range  indus- 
tries to  give  way  to  settler's  homes  and  diversified  industries.  The 
mountains  in  all  lands  have  been  the  home  of  the  poet  and  patriot. 
Our  own  ought  to  be  peopled.  The  farmer  of  the  arid  domain  has  his 
toilsome  life  brightened  and  enriched  by  the  beauty  of  his  surroundings. 
The  silver  of  the  snow-clad  mountain  joins  to  the  gold  of  the  rising  sun 
and  the  purple  splendor  of  his  going  down.  It  was  no  accident  that 
civilization  had  its  birth  in  rainless  countries  nor  that  it  is  destined  to 
find  there  its  latest  development  and  most  perfect  expression  (applause). 

The  Chairman  :  The  next  subject  to  be  discussed  this  evening  is 
**  Irrigation,  a  National  Living  Issue,"  by  Hon.  Wm.  E.  Smythe, 
editor  of  the  Irrigation  Age,  whom  I  now  have  the  pleasure  of  intro- 
ducing to  you. 

MR.  SMYTHE'S  ADDRESS. 

The  average  ill-informed  American  —  and  about  90  per  cent  of  all 
Americans  are  ill-informed  concerning  the  resources  of  their  own 
country  (applause)  —  thinks  irrigation  i3  a  local  issue.  So  our  Southern 
friends  thought  about  slavery.  So  General  Hancock  thought  about 
the  tariff.  So  Eastern  bankers  think  about  silver  (applause).  The 
fact  is  that  the  American  people  can  live  longer  in  shrouded  igno- 
rance about  their  own  conditions,  and  then  awaken  faster  to  the  truth  of 
the  situation  than  any  other  people  known  to  history  (applause).  If  it 
be  true  that  this  is  a  nation,  and  not  a  bundle  of  provinces  ;  if  it  be  true 


44  Report  of  Proceedings 

that  we  have  a  national  life  and  a  national  destiny,  then  nothing  which 
affects  any  vast  area  of  the  Republic  can  properly  be  regarded  as  a 
local  issue  (applause).  Put  a  bullet  into  the  brain  or  into  the  heart,  and 
the  hands  and  feet  cannot  claim  that  that  bullet  is  a  local  issue  (ap- 
plause). 

This  nation,  with  its  vast  and  complex  industrial  and  economic 
system,  must  rise  to  the  height  of  a  broad  and  enlightened  statesman- 
ship if  it  would  endure,  not  to  say  prosper  (applause).  There  are 
no  better  patriots  than  the  men  who  inhabit  the  old  States  of  our  East- 
ern seaboard,  but  they  do  not  travel,  and  hence,  they  do  not 
know  (applause).  They  are  wrapt  in  the  ample  mantle  of  inherited 
provincialism  (applause).  They  live  too  much  on  the  memory  of 
their  ancestors  (laughter).  Columbus  discovered,  400  years  ago, 
nearly  all  of  that  portion  of  the  United  States  which  is  interesting  to 
our  Eastern  fellow-citizens  in  the  evening  twilight  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  There  is  but  one  imperial  American.  He  is  the  American 
who  finds  his  outlook  on  the  highest  peaks  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
who  fills  his  lungs  with  the  free  air  of  the  great  West  (applause). 
In  his  veins  mingle  the  various  strains  of  blood  of  New  England,  of  the 
old  South,  of  the  middle  West,  of  Central  Europe.  All  parts  of  his 
country  are  known  to  him  by  contact.  All  impulses  of  his  time  find 
easy  entry  into  his  tolerant  brain.  His  dream  is  of  a  greater  America. 
He  leaves  the  old  home  to  face  the  wilderness  and  he  is  borne  up  by 
the  spirit  of  conquest  rather  than  of  sordid  adventure.  He  opens  mines, 
turns  mighty  rivers,  reclaims  deserts,  builds  railroads,  and  then,  with 
a  pride  like  that  which  Columbus  felt  on  returning  to  the  court  of 
Isabella,  he  lays  new  States  at  the  feet  of  the  mother  nation  (great 
applause). 

To  these  imperial  Americans  of  the  West  there  are  no  local  issues, 
save  horse-thieves.  And  of  all  issues  that  to  his  mind  seem  national  in 
dimension  irrigation  is  the  first.  Long  after  the  tariff  shall  have  been 
settled  and  embalmed  in  history  with  slavery  ;  long  after  a  stricken  com- 
mercial world  shall  have  grasped  the  helping  hand  of  silver  as  a  means 
of  averting  disaster  (applause)  irrigation  will  be  seen  to  be  the  over- 
shadowing issue,  involving  not  only  the  safety  of  our  own  institutions^ 
but  measuring  also  our  capacity  to  sustain  the  surplus  energies  of  over- 
grown foreign  peoples.  Then  it  will  be  plain  to  all  that  irrigation  is  a 
vital  part  of  the  broad  foundation,  while  tariff  and  silver  are  but  the 
doorways  and  cornices  in  the  structure  of  our  national  existence. 

What  is  the  history  of  the  past  two  years  ?  We  need  not  review 
it.  It  is  burned  into  the  memory  alike  of  beggar  and  of  millionaire. 
No  matter  what  the  cause,  the  results  were  idleness  and  unrest,  hunger 
and  danger.  And  this  condition  is  practically  unchanged  to-day. 
The  truth  is  that  national  progress  has  given  place  to  national  stagna- 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  45 

tion.  I,  for  one,  believe  these  conditions  are  principally  due  to  a 
great  fundamental  cause  which  has  attracted  but  little  attention. 
Tariff  uncertainty  and  the  subtle  appreciation  of  gold  had  their  part 
in  it,  but  the  real  cause  lies  deeper,  and  even  if  you  adjust  the  tariff 
and  currency  to  the  reasonable  satisfaction  of  all  classes  of  our  citizen- 
ship, you  must  still  apply  another  remedy  to  restore  the  nation  to  the 
old  paths  of  peace,  prosperity  and  progress. 

The  inhabitants  of  this  continent,  first  as  English  subjects  and 
then  as  American  sovereigns,  have  enjoyed  something  more  than  two 
centuries  of  high  average  prosperity.  Give  such  credit  as  you  may  to 
the  public  policies  which  have  come  and  gone  in  endless  procession 
during  that  long  period  and  you  have  not  yet  mentioned  the  chief  cause 
of  our  stupendous  material  progress.  The  truth  is  that  our  people 
were  dealing  with  the  vast  resources  of  a  virgin  continent.  In  the 
process  of  felling  the  forest,  of  turning  the  prairie  sod,  of  building 
railroads,  of  creating  mighty  States,  of  making  great  cities,  and  of 
developing  the  manifold  employments  of  a  complex  civilization,  we  have 
employed  vast  energies  and  tremendous  amounts  of  capital.  And  this 
process  yielded  a  vast  prosperity  distributed  through  all  avenues  of  in- 
dustry and  all  ranks  of  society.  This  was  the  explanation  of  our 
unfaltering  onward  march,  generation  after  generation,  alike  in  war 
and  in  peace,  in  sunshine  and  in  shadow.  Now,  why  this  period  of 
appalling  stagnation?     I  will  tell  you. 

Look  at  a  map  of  the  United  States.  Draw  a  line  down  through 
the  middle  from  the  Canadian  to  the  Mexican  boundary,  cleaving 
Kansas  and  Nebraska  in  twain,  and  you  will  have  marked  off  the  lim- 
itation of  what  we  know  as  the  humid  region,  and  indicated  the  begin- 
ning of  the  semi-arid  region.  To  the  east  of  that  line  there  are  living 
to-night  some  64,000,000  people.  To  the  west  of  that  line  live  only 
about  4,000,000.  In  other  words,  the  work  of  conquering  this  conti- 
nent is  only  half  done  (applause).  The  greater  and  better  half  is  still 
open  to  the  conquest  of  human  genius  and  human  industry.  The 
western  half  comprises  four-fifths  of  the  national  area.  And  surely  no 
Western  man  will  dispute  with  me  when  I  assert  that  this  greater  West, 
because  of  its  diverse  and  rich  resources,  offers  at  least  four  avenues 
for  gainful  employment  and  for  the  creation  of  wealth  where  one  is 
offered  by  natural  conditions  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  continent. 
Now,  what  is  the  remedy  for  the  stagnation  which  has  fallen  upon  all 
parts  of  the  country,  all  channels  of  trade,  all  classes  of  society? 
The  men  of  the  East  say,  if  General  Schofield  voices  their  senti- 
ment, as  I  think  he  does,  "  Increase  the  army."  The  men  of 
the  West  reply,  "Increase  the  homes"  (great  applause).  We  say 
we  can  make  homes  for  70,000,000  people.  But  when  we  say  this 
there  arises  in  Washington  a  brilliant  member  of  the  Cabinet,  of  daz- 


46  Report  of  Proceedings 

zling  and  scintillating  intellectual  capacity,  and  bids  us  pause  for  the 
reason  that  this  land  of  hungry  men  is  already  overproducing  the  neces- 
sities of  life.  And  then  he  proceeds  to  employ  an  eminent  statistician 
of  Boston  to  prepare  a  pamphlet  designed  to  show  the  overfed  American 
people  how  they  can  live  on  soup  bones  and  other  refuse  for  a  few 
cents  a  day.  But  with  due  respect  for  Secretary  Morton  and  Mr. 
Atkinson,  the  men  of  the  West  are  of  the  opinion  that  great  civiliza- 
tions cannot  be  evolved  from  soup  bones  (applause).  They  do  not 
fear  overproduction,  because  they  are  planning  an  industrial  system  on 
new  lines,  designed  to  meet  the  needs  of  a  new  century  with  high 
ideals  and  enormous  population. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  farming.  One  is  born  of  the  instinct  of 
speculation,  the  other  springs  from  the  instinct  of  industrialism. 
One  is  based  on  the  single  crop  of  wheat,  of  corn,  of  cotton,  and  it  is 
just  the  same  principle  if  you  substitute  for  these  staples  oranges, 
prunes  or  raisins.  We  have  passed  through  an  era  of  one  crop  or 
extensive  farming,  which  is  based  upon  a  false  economy,  and  leads 
always  and  everywhere  to  disaster  in  the  end.  The  man  who  raises 
wheat,  corn,  cotton  or  any  other  staple  for  export,  deliberately  dooms 
himself  and  his  children  to  hopeless  competition  with  the  servile  labor 
of  lands  whose  very  aristocracy  scarcely  rise  to  the  American  standard 
of  living  (applause).  The  American  farmer  who  does  this  is  the 
author  of  his  own  degradation.  The  character  of  his  home  and  the 
hopes  of  his  children  descend  with  the  price  of  his  product.  All  this 
is  plain  in  every  man  who  thinks. 

Now  come  with  me  from  the  plantations  of  the  South,  and  the 
wheat  farms  of  the  Mississippi  basin  into  the  valleys  of  Utah.  Perhaps 
the  time  has  not  yet  come  when  it  is  popular  to  acknowledge  the  greatness 
of  the  founder  of  the  Mormon  industrial  system.  But  the  time  will 
come  when  this  proud  nation  will  learn  lessons  of  a  people  whom  they 
once  pursued,  however  justly,  with  a  vigor  untempered  with  kindness 
(applause).  The  census  tells  you  that  the  average  size  farm  in  Utah 
is  27  acres.  It  tells  you  that  90  per  cent  of  the  Mormon  people  are 
proprietors  of  the  soil.  It  tells  you  that  scarcely  any  of  these  farms 
are  mortgaged.  Did  you  hear  of  any  Mormon  recruits  in  the  Coxey 
armies  (laughter)?  No,  for  the  reason  that  Brigham  Young  and 
the  able  men  with  whom  he  was  surrounded,  some  of  whom  I  see 
before  me,  taught  the  Mormon  people  that  it  was  the  first  duty  of 
every  farmer  to  produce  from  the  soil  what  his  children  needed  to  eat 
and  wear.  No  Mormon  thinks  of  a  surplus  crop  for  export  until  he 
has  first  provided  for  those  things  which  his  family  consumes. 

The  Mormon  plan  of  farming,  briefly  stated,  is  this:  To  have  a 
small  farm  unit,  devoted  to  diversified  production,  intensely  cultivated 
and  faithfully  fertilized.     To  group  the  people  in  agricultural  villages, 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  47 

that  the  women  and  children  may  be  near  to  the  church,  the  store,  the 
post-office,  and  thus  to  blend  the  advantages  of  town  life  with  the  charm 
of  rural  existence.  Another  link  in  their  industrial  policy  is  manufact- 
urers to  consume  the  products  and  thus  enhance  the  independence  of 
the  State.  At  my  request  the  historians  of  the  church  have  gathered 
statistics  to  show  the  financial  and  material  results  of  this  policy  over  a 
period  of  40  years.  Allowing  $20,000,000  for  personal  property 
brought  into  the  Territory,  we  found  that  they  have  taken  from  their  20- 
acre  irrigated  farms  and  expended  it  in  the  cost  of  living,  constructing 
irrigation  works,  improving  farms,  building  factories,  churches  and 
temples  and  sending  missionaries  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth, 
the  magnificent  total  of  $542,900,000  (applause).  Every  dollar  of  it 
was  coined  from  arid  soil,  irrigated  with  the  sweat  of  industrious  men 
(applause).  Looking  at  it  from  the  stand  point  of  individuals,  we  find 
that  the  average  annual  income  realized  by  each  proprietor  of  their 
10,000  little  farms  was  $1,357.25,  or  $482.25  to  pass  to  the  credit  of  a 
competence  after  defraying  the  cost  of  a  living. 

With  such  an  industrial  system,  improved  as  it  will  be  by  our  later 
and  better  intelligence,  our  larger  enlightenment,  we  can  sustain  at  least 
70,000,000  of  the  freest  men  who  ever  walked  the  earth  (applause). 
They  will  be  land  owners,  ready  to  shed  their  blood  in  defense  of  the 
soil  which  belongs  to  them  and  those  they  love.  And  this,  my  country- 
men, is  our  solution  of  the  difficulties  and  dangers  which  confront 
the  Republic  to-day  (applause).  Are  these  local  issues?  Yes,  as 
much  as  the  battle  of  Lexington  was  local  to  Massachusetts 
(applause),  as  much  as  the  shot  upon  Sumpter  was  local  to  South 
Carolina.  Those  events  are  part  of  the  fabric  of  our  common 
history.  The  train  of  events  which  followed  after  them  molded  our 
common  destiny,  and  the  reclamation  and  settlement  of  the  western 
half  of  this  continent,  under  just  laws  and  in  a  spirit  of  lofty  patriot- 
ism, is  to  be  the  next  stupendous  national  achievement  of  a  nation 
which  will  die  only  when  it  ceases  to  march  forward  (loud  applause). 

Our  new  civilization  will  not  be  one-sided.  We  begin  with  agri- 
culture because  all  civilization  begins  there.  There  can  be  no  enduring 
civilization  which  does  not  rest  on  this  broad  basis.  But  with  the 
prosperity  of  agriculture  every  other  element  of  a  complex  industrial 
and  social  life  will  be  brought  into  being.  Towns  and  railroads,  banks, 
stores  and  factories  —  all  these  will  come  when  we  have  conquered  the 
soil.  And  I  must  not  forget  to  mention  electricity.  It  will  be  the 
handmaid  of  irrigation  and  its  twin  factor  in  working  out  the  destiny 
of  arid  America. 

Now,  what  are  the  practical  steps  by  which  we  shall  make  this 
progress?  What  can  this  representative  body  of  Western  and  Southern 
men  do  to  help  us?     We  come  to  you  from  the  National  Irrigation 


48  Report  of  Proceedings 

Congress  and  ask  you  to  lend  your  influence  in  favor  of  certain 
measures.  We  do  not  ask  much.  We  purpose  to  be  as  self-reliant 
as  possible.  We  do  not  assume  the  attitude  of  Oliver  Twist,  and  hold 
out  our  plate  always  for  more  soup.  We  favor  a  policy  of  co-operation 
between  the  nation  and  the  States,  acting  with  private  enterprise  under 
proper  restrictions. 

We  ask,  first,  for  the  repeal  of  the  desert  land  law.  If  this  law 
ever  had  a  reason  for  being,  it  has  fulfilled  its  purpose.  In  the  majority 
of  instances  it  is  not  available  for  settlers,  nor  can  it  be  made  useful 
by  private  corporations,  except  by  a  tortuous  process  of  perjury  and 
fraud.  Corporations  have  not  hesitated  to  use  it  in  this  way.  We  ask 
you  to  favor  its  repeal  before  all  the  valuable  lands  are  stolen  from  the 
people  by  means  of  this  instrument  of  injustice.  We  have  the  Carey 
law,  which  opens  a  million  acres  in  each  State  to  reclamation  and  set- 
tlement and  bridges  over  the  period  which  must  elapse  between  the 
repeal  of  the  desert  land  law  and  the  adoption  of  a  really  enlightened 
and  enduring  national  policy. 

We  ask,  in  the  second  place,  that  you  go  on  record  in  favor  of  the 
creation  of  a  National  Irrigation  Commission.  Our  forests  are  being 
destroyed,  our  irrigable  lands  are  being  largely  misappropriated,  our 
pasturage  lands  serve  as  the  theater  of  bitter  warfare  between  cattlemen 
and  sheep  men,  our  interstate  streams  are  becoming  entangled  in  rival 
appropriations,  and  it  is  high  time  that  the  American  people  paid  some 
attention  to  this  greatest  of  all  their  national  assets  —  the  public  do- 
main. We  ask  the  appointment  of  a  National  Irrigation  Commission 
which  shall  take  up  these  complex  problems  and  seek  to  evolve  a  com- 
prehensive national  policy.  This  commission  should  be  independent  of 
existing  departments.  It  should  be  modeled  something  on  the  lines  of 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  with  power  to  draw  upon  the 
departments  of  the  Interior,  of  Agriculture  and  of  War  for  such  infor- 
mation and  facilities  as  it  may  need.  Above  all,  this  commission 
should  be  composed  of  Western  men,  who  know  the  difference  between 
an  irrigation  canal  and  a  watering  trough  (laughter). 

We  also  ask  for  the  appointment  of  a  temporary  commission  to 
adjust  serious  differences  already  arising  over  international  streams 
between  the  United  States  and  Mexico,  and  other  differences  certain  to 
arise  between  the  United  States  and  Canada.  If  we  permit  these  grave 
matters  to  go  unsettled  until  they  finally  bring  us  to  the  verge  of  war, 
what  will  the  world  think  of  American  statesmanship?  It  is  now  com- 
paratively easy  and  simple  to  settle  them  on  a  basis  of  justice  and 
equity. 

The  forestry  problem  is  most  urgent.  The  forest  reservations 
secured  under  the  administration  of  President  Harrison  command  the 
approbation  of  all  thoughtful  students  of  this  question,  East  and  West 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  49 

alike.  Urge  President  Cleveland  to  go  forward  with  this  policy  without 
delay.  But  this  is  not  enough.  The  bill  now  pending  in  Congress  at 
the  instance  of  the  distinguished  gentleman  from  Arkansas  (Mr.  Mc- 
Rae)  is  a  measure  of  urgent  and  pressing  necessity.  It  will  serve 
a  wise  temporary  purpose,  and  we  ask  you  to  favor  its  enactment. 
Beyond  this,  the  National  Irrigation  Congress  favors  the  plan  proposed 
by  Prof.  Sargent  of  Harvard  University,  providing  for  the  education  of 
skilled  foresters,  at  West  Point  and  the  control  of  the  forest  reserva- 
tions by  the  army,  by  means  of  a  local  forest  guard.  This  plan  would 
create  a  forestry  policy  on  a  scientific  basis. 

We  ask  for  it,  not  on  the  sentimental  grounds  which  some  have 
urged  in  behalf  of  noble  scenery,  but  because  these  mountain  forests 
are  nature's  storage  reservoirs,  and  because  if  you  permit  them  to  be 
destroyed  you  rob  posterity  of  the  means  by  which  vast  populations 
must  be  supported  in  the  valleys  and  on  the  plains.  We  beg  you  to 
give  your  hearty  indorsement  to  these  measures,  none  of  which  are 
radical,  all  of  which  are  but  tentative,  looking  to  the  final  adoption  of  a 
symmetrical  and  enlightened  public  policy  on  which  a  mighty  civiliza- 
tion must  rest  so  long  as  time  endures. 

I  regret  to  see  it  stated  in  certain  quarters  that  the  recent  Irrigation 
Congress  was  controlled  by  the  representatives  of  corporations  and  mo- 
nopolies. Such  a  statement  arises  either  from  misinformation  or  preju- 
dice. The  Congress  was  composed  principally  of  delegates  named  by 
Governors  of  States  and  other  elected  servants  of  the  people.  It  cer- 
tainly represented  a  fair  average  of  Western  intelligence  and  patriotism. 

Gentlemen,  I  hope  I  have  said  nothing  to  foster  sectional  preju- 
dice or  animosity.  We  must  arouse  the  country,  even  if  we  have  to 
startle  it,  to  open  its  eyes  to  the  great  national  issues  involved  in  our 
cause.  I  speak  not  as  a  Western  man  but  as  an  American  of  that 
imperial  school  which  knows  vthe  West  only  as  a  part  of  the  Republic 
(applause).  A  child  of  New  England,  I  love  the  West  because  its  bud- 
ding commonwealths  rest  under  the  same  flag  as  my  native  Massachu- 
setts (applause).  If  danger  ever  arises  for  the  Union  it  will  come  not 
from  the  West.  From  that  source  will  come  the  great  leaders  of  the 
future  doctrine  of  nationality.  Their  views  and  their  policies  will  be 
on  a  scale  with  their  mountains  and  plains.  There  is  no  room  in  the 
Western  heart  for  anything  so  small  and  petty  as  local  pride. 

We  ask  the  nation  to  take  some  interest  in  the  West,  not  for  the 
sake  of  the  West,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  nation,  of  which  the  West  is 
a  momentous  part.  We  ask  for  the  fostering  hands  of  national  interest 
in  the  development  of  national  assets.  Nationality,  not  separatism,  is 
the  great  tenet  of  our  creed.  We  believe  with  Webster  that  this  is  "an 
indissoluble  Union  of  indestructible  States.' '  We  ask  not  to  be  sepa- 
rated from  our  countrymen  of  the  East,  but  to  be  bound  the  closer  by 


50  Report  of  Proceedings 

great  policies  of  legislation  and  administration  and  by  new  ties  of 
blood,  represented  by  armies  of  settlers  from  the  East  and  South. 
And  as  we  go  forward  in  the  pathway  of  national  destiny,  we  shall 
march  to  the  music  of  that  other  note  of  Webster's:  "  Union  and  lib- 
erty, now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable  "  (prolonged  applause). 

Mr.  Whitmore  then  resumed  the  chair. 

The  Chairman:  The  Chair  regrets  to  announce  that  the  other 
speaker  for  the  evening  has  not  arrived,  and  this  will  end  our  evening 
session.  To-morrow  afternoon  at  4  o'clock  the  discussion  on  the 
Remonetization  of  Silver  will  be  opened  by  ex-Gov.  Prince  of  New 
Mexico,  who  will  be  followed  at  half-past  seven  o'clock  by  Hon.  Geo. 
E.  Leighton  of  St.  Louis.  He  will  be  followed  by  Representative 
Bryan  of  Nebraska,  who  takes  Col.  Patterson's  place  on  the  pro- 
gramme, and  the  discussion  will  be  closed  by  ex-Gov.  Anthony  of 
Kansas.  With  this  explanation  in  regard  to  the  programme  to-morrow, 
the  congress  stands  adjourned  until  10  o'clock  to-morrow  morning. 

Tuesday    Morning. 

November  27,  1894. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  President  Whitmore. 

The  Chairman  :  The  first  business  in  order  is  the  reporting  of  the 
names  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions. 

The  following  list  of  members  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  was 
then  read: — 

Alaska  —  J.  C.  Green. 

Arizona  —  W.  J.  Chamberlain  and  W.  J.  Cheney. 

Arkansas  —  George  Sengel  and  C.  S.  Collins. 

California  —  D.  Lubin  and  George  W.  Parsons. 

Colorado  —  John  F.  Shafroth  and  I.  L.  Johnson. 

Idaho  —  William  Budge  and  Ben  E.  Rich. 

Indian  Territory  —  G.  B.  Dennison  and  Fielding  Lewis. 

Iowa  —  Bart  E.  Linehan  and  S.  F.  Smith. 

Kansas  —  W.  H.  Toothhacker  and  Stephen  Crane. 

Minnesota  —  Thomas  Sharp. 

Missouri  —  E.  O.  Stanard  and  Chas.  E.  Yader. 

Montana  —  T.  O.  Morrill  and  W.  H.  Wood. 

Nebraska  —  W.  J.  Bryan  and  R.  W.  Richardson. 

New  Mexico  —  T.  H.  Gabel  and  L.  B.  Prince. 

Oklahoma  Territory —  Sidney  Clarke  and  J.  A.  Maguire. 

Oregon  —  E.  P.  Dosch. 

South  Dakota  —  S.  E.  Wilson  and  J.  R.  Brennan. 

Texas  —  Louis  Hancock  and  Ed.  A.  Marshall. 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  51 

Utah  —  Frank  J.  Cannon  and  C.  C.  Goodwin. 

Washington  —  D.  E.  Durie  and  A.  L.  Black. 

Wyoming  —  Elwood  Mead. 

The  Chairman  then  announced  that  a  room  had  been  provided  for  the 
Committee  on  Resolutions  in  the  front  of  the  hall,  where  they  could 
meet  at  such  time  as  they  desired. 

The  Secretary  then  read  a  letter  of  regret  from  Gov.  Rickards  of 
Montana. 

It  was  then  seconded  and  carried  that  the  Committee  on  Resolutions 
meet  at  2  o'clock. 

It  was  moved  as  an  amendment  that  the  Committee  on  Resolutions 
meet  at  12  o'clock. 

The  amendment  was  lost  and  the  original  motion  was  adopted. 

Mr.  Ridgeley:  Mr.  President,  will  it  be  in  order  to  submit  a 
resolution  ? 

The  Chairman:  No,  sir ;  the  regular  order  of  business  must  be  taken 
up.  It  has  already  been  delayed  too  long.  The  special  order  of  busi- 
ness this  morning  is  the  consideration  of  the  report  of  the  Committee  on 
Rules  and  Order  of  Business.  The  Secretary  will  again  read  this  report 
as  a  whole,  and  unless  the  congress  orders  otherwise,  the  vote  will  be 
taken  on  this  report  seriatim,  and  if  no  objection  is  made,  it  will  be 
considered  as  the  sense  of  the  congress  that  each  section  as  read  shall 
be  adopted. 

The  Secretary  then  read  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Rules  and 
Order  of  Business  as  follows :  — 

1st.  Reading,  correcting  and  approving  the  minutes. 

2d.  Introduction,  reading  and  referring  of  resolutions. 

3d.  Reports  of  committees. 

4th.  The  congress  will  meet  at  10  a.  m.,  2:30  p.  m.  and  7:30  p.  m. 

5th.  Cushing's  Manual  to  be  used  as  a  guide  on  all  parliamentary  questions. 

6th.  Tuesday  morning  shall  be  devoted  to  miscellaneous  business. 

7th.  Tuesday  afternoon  and  evening  shall  be  devoted  to  the  consideration  of 
the  financial  question. 

8th.  Wednesday  morning  to  miscellaneous  business. 

9th.  Wednesday  afternoon,  transportation,  railroads,  public  and  arid  lands. 

10th.  Wednesday  evening,  Nicaragua  Canal. 

11th.  Miscellaneous  business  may  be  called  up  at  any  time  after  the  regular 
order  is  exhausted. 

12th.  On  roll-call  each  delegation  is  entitled  to  10  votes  as  representative 
of  its  State  or  Territory.  If  more  than  10  delegates  are  present  from  any 
State  or  Territory,  it  is  entitled  to  as  many  votes  as  it  has  delegates  present, 
provided  it  shall  not  exceed  30  votes  for  each  State  or  Territory. 

13th.  Introducers  of  a  subject  may  speak  10  minutes  and  close  the  debate 
with  a  5  minutes'  address,  the  other  speakers  to  be  restricted  to  7  minutes. 

14th.  All  resolutions  shall  be  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions 
without  debate." 


52  ,  Report  of  Proceedings 

"  The  Admission  of  Territories  to  Statehood"  was  added  to  the 
Wednesday  afternoon  programme. 

Referring  to  the  10th  section,  the  Chairman  said:  — 

The  Chairman:  The  special  order  of  business  for  Wednesday  even- 
ing has  already  been  arranged,  for  the  Nicaragua  Canal,  the  Hawaiian 
question,  and  such  other  questions  as  may  be  incidentally  brought  up. 
It  is  understood  that  this  report  will  not  interfere  with  the  order  of 
business  arranged  by  the  Committee. 

Mr.  F.  J.  Cannon:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  to  strike  out  the  words, 
"Provided  it  shall  not  exceed  thirty  votes  for  any  State  or  Territory," 
in  section  XII.     (Motion  seconded). 

Mr.  Cannon:  Mr.  Chairman,  the  method  of  calling  this  congress 
together  was  no  doubt  very  well  considered,  the  basis  of  apportion- 
ment for  this  congress  was  perhaps  very  well  considered,  but  it  appears 
to  me  to  cast  a  stigma  upon  the  character  of  the  congress  to  send  out 
an  invitation  officially  to  the  several  States  and  Territories  to  send  their 
chosen  men  here  and  to  answer  to  those  men  when  they  shall  appear 
with  their  credentials,  that  they  are  not  wanted.  It  is  a  little  too 
arbitrary  —  for  il  many  are  called  but  few  are  chosen  "  after  we  get  to 
St.  Louis.  I  do  not  speak  for  Utah  alone,  although  we  are  here  in 
strong  numbers.  The  few  men  here  in  excess  of  thirty  could  no  doubt 
devote  their  time  to  the  programme  of  the  Entertainment  Committee, 
but  it  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  dignity  of  an  assemblage  which 
bases  a  large  share  of  its  membership  upon  population,  and  against  the 
recognized  rights  of  every  State,  to  have  its  representation  cut  down 
on  this  floor.  So  far  as  the  representation  on  population  and  enter- 
prise are  concerned,  we  ought  to  adhere  to  the  rule  which  obtains  in 
the  lower  House  of  Congress.  It  would  be  rather  absurd  for  Missouri 
to  appear  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  with 
her  full  delegation  and  to  have  that  delegation  cut  in  two  because  she 
happened  to  have,  a  larger  population  and  more  enterprise  than  some 
other  State  had.  In  other  words,  if  we  should  adopt  this  rule  the 
State  that  has  answered  this  call  in  the  feeblest  way,  the  one  that  is 
the  least  interested,  will  have  every  man  who  appears  here  in  behalf  of 
that  State,  a  larger  proportion  of  representation  than  the  State  or  Ter- 
ritory which  has  sent  a  full  delegation.  The  State  that  has  but  suffi- 
cient interest  to  send  one  man  here  is  going  to  give  that  man 
10  votes.  A  State  or  territory  which  answering  this  call  has  sent  a  full 
delegation  here  is  going  to  give  its  delegates  but  half  or  three-quarters 
of  a  vote  each.  It  appears  to  me  that  if  we  want  to  send  the  proceed- 
ings of  this  congress  out  to  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi  river 
with  a  stigma  which  the  territory  east  of  the  Mississippi  would  like  to 
place  upon  it,  the  best  way  is  to  adopt  the  rule  offered.  The  only 
way  to  treat  the  men  fairly  who  have  come  here  is  to  adopt  the  amend- 
ment which  I  propose. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  53 

Ex-Gov.  Prince  :  Mr.  President,  when  I  asked  yesterday  afternoon 
that  this  might  be  made  a  special  order  of  business  for  this  morning,  it  was 
because  the  subject  is  one  of  such  serious  importance  that  it  deserves 
the  fullest  consideration.  And  glad  as  I  always  am- to  hear  my  friend 
from  Utah,  and  ready  as  I  have  been  on  almost  every  occasion  to  con- 
cur in  his  views,  I  almost  fear  that,  without  some  such  consideration, 
the  manner  in  which  he  would  put  the  argument  might  perhaps  carry 
this  convention  away  from  that  which  it  seems  to  me  is  the  straight 
path  in  this  matter.  Now,  this  is  not  a  new  question  —  it  has  come  up 
in  congress  from  the  beginning.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  there  is  a  fair 
argument  on  each  side,  that  is,  to  a  certain  extent.  When  the 
congress  met  in  the  city  of  Denver  we  found  there  what  was 
perfectly  natural,  that  the  State  of  Colorado  had  more  mem- 
bers present  than  all  the  other  States  of  the  Trans-Mississippi 
country.  This  congress  represents  an  enormous  district  of  terri- 
tory, extending  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific.  It  is 
impossible  that  very  large  delegations  should  come  from  the 
remote  parts  of  this  vast  district.  It  is  always  to  be  expected 
that  the  State  in  which  the  congress  is  held  and  the  States  which 
are  immediately  contiguous  will  have  by  far  the  largest  delega- 
tions. Now,  this  is  a  representative  body.  It  is  not  intended  as  a 
town  meeting,  or  as  simply  a  representation  of  the  city  in  which  it 
meets,  or  of  the  particular  sections  of  this  trans-Mississippi  country  in 
which  it  happens  to  hold  its  session.  When  the  session  was  held  in 
New  Orleans,  Louisiana  and  Texas  had  the  great  preponderance  of  the 
delegates.  When  it  was  held  in  San  Francisco  the  Pacific  Coast 
naturally  had  the  preponderance.  If  there  is  not  some  basis  of  repre- 
sentation making  a  limitation,  the  particular  locality  will  control  the  en- 
tire complexion  of  the  congress  which  is  held  there.  If  it  had  not  been 
understood  that  there  was  such  a  limitation  here,  the  State  of  Missouri 
could  have  sent  about  400  delegates,  and  could  have. shaped  this  con- 
gress* entire  proceedings.  It  is  the  same  wherever  it  meets.  If  we 
are  to  preserve  a  representative  character,  there  must  be  some  kind  of 
limitation,  or  else  the  congress  will  simply  become  the  mouthpiece  of 
the  special  locality  at  which  it  is  held  at  one  or  another  time,  and  it 
will  speak  with  an  entirely  different  voice  from  year  to  year,  in 
accordance  with  the  place  where  it  happens  to  be. 

Now,  in  Denver,  and  afterwards  at  San  Francisco,  the  repre- 
sentation was  made  absolutely  equal  between  the  different  States. 
Each  one  had  30  votes,  without  any  reference  to  the  number  of  dele- 
gates present.  I  concede  that  there  are  certain  objections  to  that 
and  that  there  is  a  good  deal  of  force  and  reason  in  what  has  been 
said  by  my  friend  from  Utah  as  to  putting  a  premium  —  so  to 
speak  —  on    actual    attendance.      The     report    of     the   committee 


54  Report  of  Proceedings 

made  to  this  body  yesterday,  it  seems  to  me,  strikes  a  happy  medium. 
It  gives  to  each  State  10  votes  absolutely,  if  it  has  any  representation. 
It  limits  the  total  number  to  30  votes,  thereby  giving  this  whole  range 
betwean  the  10  and  30  as  a  premium  on  actual  representation.  To 
extend  this  limitation  beyond  30,  it  seems  to  me,  would  be  simply  to 
invite  the  danger  which  I  suggested,  of  having  local  influences  in  every 
case  control  the  convention,  and  I  submit  that  in  order  to  preserve  our 
representative  character,  in  order  that  this  may  be  a  representative 
assemblage  of  the  whole  Trans-Mississippi  country,  in  order  that  every 
section  may  have  something  like  its  proportionate  weight  in  the  deliber- 
ations and  conclusions  that  are  arrived  at,  a  limitation  of  that  kind  is 
not  only  fair  but  necessary. 

Mr.  Black:  Mr.  President,  I  desire  to  amend  the  resolution  as 
read  by  striking  out  of  that  part  of  the  resolution  the  words,  "  as 
representative  of  its  State  or  Territory,"  and  adding  thereto  a  rec- 
ommendation, "shall  have  as  many  votes  as  there  are  delegates 
present,  provided  they  do  not  exceed  30."  It  seems  to  me  that  a 
resolution  reading  in  that  manner,  viz. :  that  each  State  shall  have  10 
votes  of  right,  and  have  in  addition  thereto  as  many  votes  as 
there  are  delegates  present,  is  a  happy  medium  between  the  propo- 
sition as  made  by  the  gentleman  from  Utah  and  that  as  made  in  the 
original  resolution,  and  supported  by  the  gentleman  from  New 
Mexico.  Each  State  which  is  interested  in  this  congress  sufficiently 
to  send  its  representative  from  a  distance  is  entitled  to  extra 
consideration.  For  instance,  take  the  State  from  which  I  have 
the  honor  to  be  a  delegate.  We  have  come  here  2,500  miles  — 
there  are  several  members  present.  It  seems  to  me  that  we 
should  be  entitled  to  more  recognition  than  a  State  nearer  by, 
who  sent  but  one  man.  It  seems  to  me  that  each  man  here, 
unless  he  be  of  a  delegation  so  large  that  it  would  control  this  whole 
congress,  should-  be  entitled  to  a  representation  for  himself.  It  is 
true,  that  if  there  is  but  one  delegate  here,  he  should  have  more  than 
that  power,  and  therefore  I  think  the  provision  that  each  State  have  10 
votes  is  a  just  provision,  and  it  should  be  adopted.  I  think  the  amend- 
ment I  make  is  just,  fair  and  equitable. 

The  Chairman:  The  gentleman  will  send  the  resolution  to  the 
platform. 

Mr.  Ridgeley  :  Mr.  President,  I  desire  to  state  that  I  am  in  favor 
of  the  report  of  the  committee,  from  the  fact  that  it  gives  to  each  State 
and  Territory  just  the  representation  that  it  was  intended  to  have  by 
the  power  that  made  the  appointment  of  delegates,  and  secondly,  be- 
cause it  gives  every  State  or  Territory  a  representation,  whether  all  the 
delegates  are  here  or  not.  No  matter  whether  a  State  or  Territory 
only  has  one  delegate  or  two  present,  its  interests  are  just  the  same  as 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  55 

if  it  had  20,  and  it  may  be  that  even  one  delegate  or  two  can  reflect  the 
sentiment  of  that  State  or  Territory  as  ably  as  it  can  when  there  are 
30.  For  this  reason  I  am  in  favor  of  the  report  of  the  committee.  As 
far  as  Arkansas  is  concerned,  she  is  in  the  middle  of  the  road.  She 
will  not  suffer  very  materially  from  anything  that  has  been  presented. 
I  hope  the  report  of  the  committee  will  prevail. 

H.  H.  Harding  (of  Missouri) :  Mr.  Chairman,  as  a  member  of 
that  Committee  I  wish  to  state,  the  Committee  wrestled  with  that 
problem  for  more  than  an  hour,  and  with  the  experience 
of  members  who  had  attended  former  congresses,  in  which 
the  same  question  had  come  up.  Now,  as  a  represent- 
ative from  Missouri,  I  have  not  been  actuated  at  all  by  any  selfish 
consideration.  Had  I  taken  the  same  view  as  was  taken  by  the 
gentleman  from  Utah,  Missouri  would  have  had  a  large  vote  in  this 
convention,  but  as  the  matter  was  presented  in  committee  to  me,  it  did 
not  seem  just,  that  because  we  were  herein  Missouri  so  near  the  conven- 
tion, we  should  be  entitled  to  so  large  a  voice  in  that  convention ;  it 
ought  to  be  limited.  I  acknowledge  there  was  great  force  from  an 
abstract  stand-point  in  the  argument  of  the  gentleman  from  Utah,  and 
I  acknowledge  they  are  entitled  to  great  consideration  coming  from  a 
distance  and  at  great  expense,  and  I  would  almost  be  willing,  sir,  as 
Utah  has  had  plural  ideas,  that  they  be  made  an  exception  and  given 
a  vote  for  every  man  they  have  got  here.  But  still  I  think  the  number 
directed  by  the  committee  is  the  correct  one  —  there  should  be  a  limita- 
tion. 

The  Chairman  :  The  Chair  will  read  the  amendment  offered  by  Mr. 
Black,  in  order  that  delegates  may  understand  to  what  point  they  are 
talking  (reading)  :  u  On  roll-call  each  delegation  is  entitled  to  vote  ten 
votes,  as  representative  of  its  State  or  territory,  and  in  addition  thereto 
as  many  votes  as  there  are  delegates  present,  provided  they  do  not 
exceed  thirty." 

B.  D.  Williams  (of  Arkansas):  Mr.  Chairman,  I  had  the  honor  of 
being  a  member  of  the  committee  which  made  that  report.  The  com- 
mittee was  over  an  hour  in  session,  and  most  of  the  time  was  engaged 
in  the  discussion  in  reference  to  that  portion  of  the  report.  The 
gentlemen  from  the  different  States  were  present  and  the  committee 
was  all  present,  and  after  discussion  and  argument  they  unani- 
mously agreed  to  make  this  report.  Utah  was  reported  upon 
that  committee,  and  she  with  the  rest  of  us,  unanimously  agreed 
to  make  the  report.  We  believe  it  was  just  and  right  and  proper  that 
each  State  should  have  ten  votes,  and  that  the  balance  of  the  State 
should  be  represented  by  their  delegates,  not  to  exceed  thirty  in  all. 
That  being  the  case,  we  made  that  report,  believing  that  there  would 
be  no  friction  and  no  difficulty  in  passing  it,  and  that  it  would  give  all 


56  Report  of  Proceedings 

parties  an  equal  chance  in  this  convention.  Arkansas  has  twenty  del- 
egates on  this  floor.  She  could  have  had  many  more  if  necessary,  but 
here  we  ask  to  vote  no  more  than  ten  votes  at  large  and  the  balance  up 
to  thirty.  We  feel  that  it  is  right  and  proper  each  State  should  have 
ten  votes,  and  for  Utah,  if  these  gentlemen  have  more  than  thirty,  I 
think  it  nothing  but  right  that  they  submit  to  the  proposition  and 
accept  that.  I  believe  that  Missouri  here  joins  in  the  magnanimous 
feeling  of  the  gentleman  on  my  right,  who  has  said  that  they  ask  no 
more  than  thirty.  We  perhaps  could  muster  and  bring  into  this  con- 
vention two  or  three  hundred,  but  we  stand  with  the  other  States  — 
we  stand  asking  no  more  rights,  no  more  privileges  in  this  convention, 
than  the  State  that  is  represented  by  only  one  man.  Therefore,  gen- 
tlemen, I  feel  that  the  report  of  the  committee  should  be  adopted  and  I 
move  to  lay  the  other  amendment  on  the  table. 

The  Chairman:  The  Chair  will  state  the  two  propositions.  Both 
allow  each  delegation  ten  votes  as  representing  the  State  or  Territory ; 
the  report  provides  that,  if  it  has  more  than  ten  delegates,  its  vote 
shall  be  limited  to  the  number  of  delegates ;  the  amendment  gives  a 
vote  to  each  delegate  in  addition  to  these  ten  votes ;  both,  however,  limit 
the  total  vote  to  thirty. 

The  motion  now  is  to  lay  the  amendment  on  the  table. 

The  statement  was  then  made  by  a  delegate  from  Iowa  that  if 
the  motion  is  adopted  it  carries  the  original  resolution  with  it,  and  to 
get  rid  of  that  motion  and  act  upon  the  resolution  it  is  necessary  to 
vote  down  the  motion  to  lay  upon  the  table. 

The  Chair  stated  that  this  was  corrrect  and  the  motion  was  with- 
drawn. 

Hon.  W.  J.  Bryan  (of  Nebraska) :  Mr.  Chairman,  in  deciding  this 
question  it  seems  to  me  our  object  should  be  to  make  the  utterances  of 
this  Trans-Mississippi  Congress  as  valuable  to  as  wide  a  section  of  coun- 
try as  possible,  and  if  we  expect  it  to  have  weight,  the  voice  must  be  the 
voice  of  the  States  represented  and  not  the  voice  of  individuals  who  may 
gone  to  the  trouble  to  come  to  the  congress.  Now,  we  appreciate  the 
force  of  the  argument  made  by  the  gentleman  from  Utah,  and  it  is  a 
great  compliment  to  the  State  to  have  so  many  people  willing  to  come  so 
far  to  attend  this  congress,  and  yet  the  papers  who  report  this  meeting 
will  pay  to  that  State  this  compliment  in  reporting  that  so  many  were 
on  hand,  but  if  we  allow  each  person  to  vote,  the  gentleman  certainly 
recognizes  that  one  or  two  States  may  have  a  majority  in  tbis  congress, 
and  what  the  congress  does  will  go  before  the  country  as  the  expres- 
sion of  merely  two  or  three  States  and  it  will  fall  flat  upon  the  country. 
In  my  judgment,  the  report  of  the  committee  which  allows  30  votes  to 
those  States  which  sent  30  delegates,  is  a  very  liberal  allowance.  It 
seems  to  me  they  have  gone  to  the  limit. 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  57 

Now,  we  are  assembled  here  not  to  represent  ourselves,  but  to 
represent  the  people  of  our  State,  and  each  person  is  supposed  to  be 
entitled  to  equal  consideration  in  the  making  of  these  laws.  Take  the 
case  of  Utah  — Utah  has  one  member  of  Congress  or  delegate,  possibly 
two,  and  two  senators.  Here  are  other  States  which  have  two  senators 
and  ten  or  fifteen  members  of  Congress.  Now,  these  represent  people 
interested  in  all  questions  which  concern  the  Trans-Mississippi  country. 
Is  it  fair  that  because  a  few  States  may  send  a  large  number  of  dele- 
gates, that  therefore  the  people  living  in  those  States  shall  control  the 
action  of  the  congress  ?  It  seems  to  me  the  argument  made  by  ex-Gov. 
Prince  is  an  unanswerable  one,  and  that  the  argument  made  by  my 
friend  from  Utah,  while  it  may  appeal  to  the  pride  of  the  State  and  be 
a  deserved  compliment  to  the  enterprise  of  those  people,  I  think  they 
ought  to  be  willing  to  take  their  apportionment  as  it  is  made  here,  with- 
out asking  too  large  a  place  in  its  deliberations. 

Senator  Johnston:  I  ask  the  Chairman,  is  a  motion  to  lay  upon  the 
table  debatable? 

The  Chairman:  It  has  been  withdrawn  —  the  discussion  is  on  the 
adoption  of  the  substitute. 

A  Delegate  from  Iowa:  Gentlemen  of  the  Congress,  there  is  a 
disposition  on  the  part  of  every  gentleman  present  to  be  fair.  An 
invitation  was  sent  throughout  the  Trans-Mississippi  region  and  the 
basis  of  representation  to  this  congress  was  made  known  to  the  people 
of  that  portion  of  the  Union,  that  each  State  was  entitled  to  a  certain 
representation  upon  the  floor  of  this  house.  It  seems  to  me,  if  the  dele- 
gates from  Utah  have  been  legally  sent,  if  their  credentials  have  passed 
the  scrutiny  of  the  committee,  and  if  Utah  has  sent  no  more  delegates  than 
she  was  entitled  to, considering  the  basis  of  representation  sent  out  before 
this  congress  convened  —  that  if  they  are  entitled  to  30  or  35  or  40 
members  on  the  basis  sent  out  to  her  people,  and  they  have  had  enter- 
prise enough,  at  an  expense  of  eight  or  ten  thousand  dollars,  to  send 
their  delegates  here,  and  they  come  with  proper  credentials,  I  cannot 
see  why  there  should  be  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  any  gentleman 
from  another  State  where  the  people  have  not  had  the  same  enter- 
prise, to  shut  Utah  out  of  the  vote  she  is  rightfully  entitled  to.  It 
seems  to  me  it  would  be  more  fair  for  this  body,  in  the  wish  to  set  the 
basis  of  representation,  to  look  forward  to  the  next  congress,  but  not 
look  back  to  the  time  when  they  sent  the  invitation  to  the  people  of  Utah, 
setting  forth  the  fact  that  they  were  entitled  to  so  many  towns,  or  so 
many  delegates,  or  to  so  many  organizations,  to  send  one  or  more  dele- 
gates. They  have  traveled  one  or  two  thousand  miles  at  an  expense  of 
$10,000,  and  when  they  reach  here  a  committee  is  appointed  by  this 
body  saying  that  they  are  not  entitled  to  more  than  a  certain  number 
of  votes.     I  think  it  touches  the  very  fountain  of  representation  that 


58  Report  of  Proceedings 

has  governed  this  congress  for  years  past,  that  the  very  constitution  of 
it  be  changed,  if  you  wish  to  cut  down  your  representation.  Let  the 
representation  that  we  are  looking  forward  to  reach  to  the  next  con- 
gress, but  not  to  the  one  that  has  assembled  here  to-day  with  her  dele- 
gates, having  traveled  thousands  of  miles  and  spent  thousands  of 
dollars,  when  not  one  single  member  thereof  has  come  with  credentials 
that  has  not  been  accepted  by  this  congress.  Each  gentleman  from 
Utah  carries  with  him  a  credential  based  upon  the  representation  sent 
out,  and  if  he  is  passed  by  the  Committee  on  Credentials,  he  is  entitled 
to  a  seat  on  the  floor  of  this  body. 

An  inquiry  was  then  made  as  to  the  number  of  delegates  in  the 
Utah  delegation,  which  was  stated  to  be  about  40. 

Mr.  Cannon  then  withdrew  his  motion  and  offered  an  explanation  of 
his  position. 

Mr.  F.  J.  Cannon:  Gentlemen  of  the  Congress,  the  explanation 
looks  only  to  a  vindication  of  the  people  who  have  come  from  Utah. 
We  have  had  all  the  newspaper  attention  and  compliments  that  we 
desire.  We  have  not  come  here  for  the  purpose  of  asserting  individ- 
ualit}7  nor  plurality.  We  have  come  here  to  represent  the  strength  and 
vigor  of  the  new  State  of  Utah.  We  come  here  to  vote  with  the  gen- 
tlemen of  other  States  upon  questions  which  will  make  the  country 
great.  We  do  not  care  for  more  than  30  votes,  but  wecare  for  justice, 
and  we  say  when  any  congress  sends  its  invitations  it  must  answer  to 
itself  and  to  justice  when  people  appear  on  that  invitation.  Having 
said  so  much,  I  desire  to  withdraw  my  motion,  and  Utah  will  accept  her 
30  votes,  or  less,  along  with  the  rest. 

The  question  was  then  put  on  the  substitute  offered  by  Mr.  Black  of 
Washington  and  lost. 

The  original  report  was  then  adopted. 

The  remaining  sections  of  the  report  were  then  read  and  the  Chair 
stated  the  question  to  be  upon  the  adoption  of  the  report  as  a  whole. 

Capt.  Thomas  Sharp  (of  Minnesota) :  Mr.  Chairman,  in  the  appor- 
tionment of  time  on  the  report  I  see  no  time  set  apart  for  Rivers  and 
Harbors. 

The  Chairman  :  The  Chair  is  of  the  impression  that  that  will  come 
under  miscellaneous  business  and  can  be  introduced  like  any  other 
subject. 

The  report  was  then  adopted  as  a  whole. 

A  resolution  was  then  offered  by  Mr.  Black  of  Washington  relating 
to  the  use  of  American  products  in  the  American  Navy. 

A  resolution  was  offered  from  Oklahoma  relating  to  the  admission  of 
Oklahoma,  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  as  States,  also  relating  to  Terri- 
torial form  of  government  for  the  Indian  Territory. 

Hugh  Craig  (of   San  Francisco) :  Mr.  Chairman,  the  Chamber  of 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  59 

Commerce  of  San  Francisco  presents  its  compliments  to  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  Congress,  with  a  resolution  referring  to  the  Hawaiian  cable; 
the  Produce  Exchange  of  San  Francisco  presents  its  compliments  with 
a  resolution  on  the  Farralone  cable :  the  Board  of  Trade  of  Oakland 
presents  its  compliments  with  a  resolution  relating  to  the  improvement 
of  Oakland  Harbor. 

These  resolutions  were  then  read  and  referred. 

The  Chairman:  The  Committee  on  Permanent  Organization  is  now 
ready  to  report,  and  the  Chairman  will  be  kind  enough  to  take  the  plat- 
form and  make  his  report. 

The  Secretary  read  the  following  report :  — 

"Your  Committee  on  Permanent  Organization  beg  leave  to  report 
the  following  names :  — 

For  President,  Hon.  Geo.  Q.  Cannon,  of  Utah. 

For  Secretaries,  the  present  officers  to  serve  during  this  session  and 
after  the  location  of  the  meeting  of  the  next  congress  the  Executive 
Committee  have  power  to  select  a  Permanent  Secretary  and  Assistant 
Secretary. 

Your  committee  also  recommend  that  each  State  report  one  name  as 
Vice-President." 

The  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Permanent  Organization: 
Mr.  Chairman,  I  merely  wish  to  explain  in  regard  to  the  Secretary  it 
seems  almost  necessary  that  the  Secretary  should  be  located  in  the 
town  where  the  next  meeting  is  held.  Therefore  we  thought  it  better 
to  recommend  that  the  old  officers  hold  over  for  this  meeting,  and 
when  the  place  was  selected  for  the  next  meeting,  to  elect  a  Secretary 
from  that  city. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Black  of  Washington,  duly  seconded  and  carried, 
the  report  was  unanimously  adopted. 

The  Chairman:  The  chair  desires  to  congratulate  the  gentleman 
named  upon  the  honor  conferred  upon  him,  and  the  congress  upon  the 
honor  it  has  conferred  upon  itself.  The  chair  will  appoint  Messrs. 
Stanard,  of  Missouri,  Black,  of  Washington,  and  Johnston,  of  Cali- 
fornia, a  Committee  to  escort  the  President-elect  to  the  chair. 

The  Chairman:  Delegates  to  the  Congress,  I  have  pleasure  in 
introducing  to  you  your  presiding  officer  until  the  next  session,  Hon. 
George  Q.  Cannon  of  Utah. 

President  Cannon:  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Trans-Mississippi 
Congress,  I  can  assure  you  that  it  would  have  been  a  much  greater 
pleasure  to  me  to  have  had  any  other  gentleman,  any  other  member  of 
this  congress,  selected  for  this  position,  than  to  have  been  selected 
myself.  At  the  same  time,  I  appreciate  very  highly  the  honor  that  has 
been  conferred  upon  me,  and  through  me  on  the  Territory  of  Utah, 
which  I  hope  soon  will  be  a  State.     I  may  say,  speaking  for  our  people 


60  Report  of  Proceedings 

who  inhabit  that  territory,  that  we  have  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the 
questions  that  are  likely  to  come  before  this  congress,  as  we  do  with 
all  questions  which  affect  the  great  West.  We  want  to  keep  abreast  of 
the  public  sentiment  of  the  West  and  to  take  an  active  part  in  every- 
thing appertaining  to  its  development.  We  believe  that  there  is  a  great 
future  before  the  Trans-Mississippi  States  and  Territories,  and  that 
there  is  a  people  inhabiting  that  region,  that  will  receive  sooner  or  later 
a  much  fuller  recognition  from  the  East  than  they  do  at  the  present 
time.  The  question  of  irrigation  has  come  to  the  front  within  the  last 
two  or  three  years  with  astonishing  rapidity.  It  is  a  question,  perhaps, 
which  the  people  of  St.  Louis  and  those  along  the  Mississippi  river  do 
not  feel  as  much  interest  in  as  those  farther  west,  but  undoubtedly  the 
time  is  near  at  hand  when  this  important  matter  will  receive  the  fullest 
attention.  Even  Illinois,  I  am  told,  feels  the  necessity  of  adopting 
some  system  of  supplementing  the  rains  which  fall  from  heaven. 

Of  course,  the  silver  question  is  one  of  deep  interest  to  all  who  belong 
to  the  silver-bearing  States  and  Territories,  but  there  are  other  questions 
that  have  been  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  meeting  of  this  con- 
gress which  may  not  affect  us  who  live  in  the  far  West  so  seriously  as 
they  do  along  the  Mississippi  and  contiguous  thereto.  These  undoubt- 
edly will  receive  attention  and  should  receive  careful  consideration. 

I  heartily  indorse  the  sentiments  expressed  by  our  President,  Mr. 
Whitmore,  in  his  opening  address.  I  feel  that  it  was  broad  and  it 
applied  to  us  all  —  that  there  should  be  no  distinction,  that  there  should 
be  no  sectional  feeling,  no  matter  what  part  a  delegation  came  from, 
that  they  should  be  broad  and  take  comprehensive  views  of  all  the 
questions  that  would  be  submitted  to  this  congress.  I  feel  personally, 
and  I  think  I  speak  for  the  delegation  of  which  I  am  a  member,  that 
there  is  no  question  that  has  been  mentioned  in  the  call  for  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  Congress  as  likely  to  be  discussed  before  that  congress, 
that  we  do  not  take  the  deepest  interest  in.  Not  wishing  to  trespass 
upon  your  time,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  longer,  I  heartily  thank  you  on 
behalf  of  my  own  Territory  and  myself  for  the  honor  conferred  upon 
me. 

Mr.  Castle:  Mr.  Chairman,  on  behalf  of  the  California  delegation, 
I  move  that  a  vote  of  thanks  be  tendered  to  our  retiring  Chairman  for 
the  able  manner,  in  which  he  has  discharged  his  duties  (applause). 

This  motion  was  put  by  President  Cannon  after  being  seconded  and 
was  duly  carried. 

President  Cannon:  President  Whitmore,  I  take  pleasure  in  voicing 
to  you  the  feeling  of,  I  might  say  love  —  I  do  not  think  it  is  too  strong 
a  word  to  use  to  our  retiring  President,  for  I  can  speak  for  myself;  his 
conduct  during  our  deliberations  has  won  my  admiration  and  love  — 
therefore  I  can  in  behalf  of  thi*  congress   tender  to  you  this  hearty 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  61 

vote  for  the  expression  of  the  good  feeling  the  members  of  this  con- 
gress entertain  for  you,  and  their  thanks  for  the  able  manner  in  which 
you  have  presided  over  this  body. 

Mr.  Whitmore  :  Mr.  President  and  Fellow-Delegates,  those  of 
you  who  were  at  the  San  Francisco  congress  will  bear  witness  to 
the  hesitation  with  which  I  accepted  the  honors  and  the  duties 
which  were  there  assigned  me.  I  did  so  with  reluctance,  partly  be- 
cause I  felt  that  the  honor  should  have  been  bestowed  upon  3ome  one 
who  was  better  entitled  to  it,  and  partly  because  I  doubted 
whether  I  should  be  able  to  so  fill  that  position  as  to  meet 
with  your  satisfaction.  If  I  have  done  so,  it  is  a  source  of 
the  greatest  gratification  to  myself,  but  —  I  say  it  honestly  —  I 
deserve  no  thanks.  I  have  simply  done  that  which  it  was  my  duty  to 
do  —  nothing  more  —  and  I  have  tried  to  do  no  less.  If  this  meeting 
is  to  succeed,  if  we  have  succeeded  in  calling  the  attention  ofHhe 
people  in  the  Trans-Mississippi  region  to  this  congress  and  its  work, 
that  success  is  attributable  far  more  to  others  than  to  myself,  to 
those  who  were  not  under  the  same  obligations  to  do  that  work,  to  the 
members  of  our  Executive  Committee,  to  the  gentlemen  in  the  different 
cities  who  have  taken  an  interest  in  this  congress  —  to  them 
more  than  to  me  you  owe  any  success  which  may  attend  your  efforts 
here,  and  in  accepting  this  vote  of  thanks  I  desire  to  include  them  as 
well  as  myself,  and  on  their  behalf  and  my  own,  I  thank  you. 

Mr.  Whitmore  :  Mr.  President,  before  adjournment  I  desire  to  call 
the  attention  of  the  delegates  to  the  fact  that  yesterday  we  received  an 
invitation  from  the  Merchants'  Exchange  to  attend  any  one  of  their 
sessions  which  you  might  choose  to.  Their  sessions  close  every  day  at 
a  quarter  past  one,  and  the  members  will  be  exceedingly  glad  to 
welcome  any  of  you  who  may  present  yourselves.  The  building  is 
only  about  a  block  from  the  Planters  House,  and  I  think  you  will  be 
interested  in  seeing  the  building  in  which  they  hold  their  daily  sessions. 

Adjourned  until  2:30  p.  m.  to-day. 

Tuesday  Afternoon  Session. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  at  2:30  p.  m.  by  President  Cannon. 

The  Chairman  :  The  hour  having  arrived  to  which  the  congress  ad- 
journed, it  is  now  open  for  business.  The  introduction  of  resolutions 
or  miscellaneous  business  will  be  in  order  now. 

The  Chair  has  been  requested  to  recognize  a  gentleman  from  Colorado 
who  is  only  going  to  be  here  to-day. 

The  Chairman:  Congressman-elect  Shafrotb.  of  Colorado  is  going  to 
leave  in  the  morning  and  would  like  to  make  some  remarks  before  he 
leaves. 


62  Report  of  Proceedings 

ADDRESS  OF  CONGRESSMAN  SHAFROTH  ON  THE  SILVER  QUESTION. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Congress :  As  I  under- 
stood the  programme,  the  discussion  of  the  silver  question  was  to  be 
taken  up  this  afternoon,  and  knowing  I  had  to  leave  in  the  morning,  I 
desire  to  say  something  upon  this  question.  If  I  do  not  say  it  at  this 
time  I  feel  I  will  have  no  opportunity  to  do  so.  I  therefore  thank  you 
for  the  courtesy  you  have  shown  me  in  permitting  me  to  say  a  few 
words  upon  this  question.  The  President  of  this  congress  yesterday 
stated  that  he  hoped  that  inasmuch  as  we  represented  the  States  west 
of  the  Mississippi  river,  that  we  would  not  look  at  the  questions  to 
be  presented  before  this  congress  from  a  local  stand-point,  but. 
from  the  stand-point  of  the  nation  at  large.  Those  sentiments  I  heart- 
ily commend,  and  though  I  am  from  the  State  of  Colorado,  that  is  the 
greatest  silver  producing  State  in  the  Union,  yet  I  may  say  that  we  do 
not  desire  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  in  that  State  because 
it  is  a  product  of  the  State  of  Colorado.  We  have  no  right  to  demand 
legislation  in  behalf  of  that  State,  if  that  legislation  is  detrimental  to 
the  interest  of  the  nation,  and  it  is  purely  from  a  national  stand-point 
that  we  have  a  right  to  discuss  this  question  before  the  people. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  the  first  thing  that  we 
can  say  is  that  all  men  will  agree,  no  matter  what  their  political  belief 
is,  no  matter  whether  they  are  single  gold  standard  men,  or  whether 
they  are  bi-metallists  —  they  cannot  help  acknowledging  that  the  unit 
of  money  must  be  unvarying.  They  all  agree  to  that.  If  we  do  not 
agree  to  that,  we  are  not  honest  in  our  views.  Consequently  I  take  it 
that  all  parties  will  concede  that  the  unit  of  money  must  be  as  unchang- 
ing as  the  human  mind  can  conceive  and  can  fix.  We  find  then,  upon 
the  threshold  of  this  matter,  that  the  first  inquiry  is,  under  the  present 
standard  that  exists,  "  Is  that  standard  an  unvarying  standard?"  If 
it  is,  then  our  cause  has  got  to  retire.  If  it  is  not,  then  the  standard 
must  be  remedied.  We  find  upon  looking  at  this  question  that  previous 
to  1871  there  were  two  metals  that  formed  the  base  upon  which  was 
built  up  the  credit  and  commerce  of  the  world.  They  formed  the  moneys 
of  ultimate  payment,  of  ultimate  redemption.  These  two  metals  were 
peculiarly  fitted  for  money  metals,  on  account  of  their  quality  of  inde- 
structibility, and  on  account  of  the  difficulties  with  which  they  are 
extracted  from  the  earth. 

Although  mining  has  existed  for.centuries,  and  although  free  coinage 
has  existed  for  centuries,  the  amount  of  gold  coin  and  silver  coin  in 
the  world  up  to  1871  was  practically  the  same.  We  find  that  by  legis- 
lation one  of  these  metals  is  stricken  down  as  a  money  of  ultimate  pay- 
ment. Now,  what  is  the  inevitable  consequence  of  that?  The  burden 
which  both  of  those  metals  bore  was  shifted  on  to  one  metal.     The 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  63 

shifting  of  the  burden  of  twice  the  amount  onto  one  metal,  doubled  the 
burden  upon  that  one  metal.  Doubling  the  burden  upon  one  metal 
doubles  the  demand  upon  one  metal,  and  doubling  the  demand  upon 
one  metal  doubles  the  value  thereof.  It  seems  to  me  that  there  can  be 
no  other  logical  consequence  from  that  condition. 

Now,  I  am  not  here  to  say  that  gold  has  doubled  in  value,  because 
this  demonetization  did  not  take  place  all  at  the  same  time.  We  know 
that  it  was  one  nation  after  another  that  began  demonetizing  silver. 
We  know  that  if  demonetization  complete  had  taken  place  all  over  the 
world  at  the  same  time,  and  the  burden  which  both  of  two  equal  metals 
had  been  carrying  had  been  shifted  on  to  one,  the  inevitable  principle 
of  supply  and  demand  would  have  made  that  burden  double  the  demand 
for  that  one  metal  —  and  doubling  the  demand  for  that  metal  would 
double  the  value  thereof.  I  am  aware  to-day  that  all  the  nations  have 
not  demonetized  silver,  and  that  to-day  there  are  some  free  coiaage 
silver  nations  in  the  world,  relieving  the  great  demand  which  the  rest  of 
the  world  is  making  upon  gold.  Consequently,  we  know  that  although 
gold  has  not  been  doubled  by  the  demonetization  of  silver,  yet  we  know 
that  the  increase  has  been  enormous  from  year  to  year  on  account  of 
this  demonetization  taking  place  on  different  years.  Consequently,  it 
seems  to  me  that  no  one  can  deny  in  the  face  of  that  proposition  that 
the  gold  has  increased  in  value. 

Now  let  us  see  what  the  situation  of  the  nations  was  at  the  time 
demonetization  began.  Before  I  go  into  that,  I  want  to  call  your  at- 
tention to  the  effect  which  ultimate  demonetization  of  all  silver  in  the 
world,  if  it  doubled  the  valueof  gold,  would  have;  what  enormous  and 
pernicious  results  must  happen  from  that  act.  What  effect  has  it  upon  the 
world?  We  find  that  the  man  who  has  his  wealth  invested  in  securities, 
after  a  given  time  realizes  that  his  wealth  has  been  doubled  in  value. 
After  complete  demonetization  takes  place,  the  man  who  has  his  wealth 
invested  in  anything  else  wakes  up  to  the  realization  that  his  wealth  has 
been  divided  half  in  two.  What  is  the  consequence  of  legislation? 
One  man's  wealth  has  been  doubled  by  legislation,  another  man's 
wealth  has  been  cut  in  two.  That  is  by  complete  demonetization  of 
silver  when  it  takes  place.  We  find  that  even  that  would  not  be  so 
great  a  hardship,  although  it  is  pernicious  indeed.  But  we  find  there 
is  another  class  of  people,  who  have  had  the  bravery  and  the  enterprise 
to  borrow  for  the  purpose  of  developing  the  resources  of  their  country, 
and  we  find  that  as  to  those  people,  the  effects  of  demonetization  —  the 
effect  of  increasing  the  value  of  the  gold  dollar,  has  been  as  to  his  wealth, 
to  absolutely  wipe  it  out  of  existence.  It  means  that  all  the  capital 
that  he  put  into  it,  is  swept  out  by  the  mortgage  which  he  placed  upon 
the  property.  It  means  to  the  man  who  has  been  a  borrower,  total 
annihilation  of  his  wealth.     That  would  be  the  result  of  demonetization, 


64  Report  of  Proceedings 

if  it  took  place  all  over  the  world.  When  we  see  now  that  demonetization 
has  taken  place  in  two-thirds  of  the  nations  of  the  world,  we  can  easily 
understand  why  this  demand  for  gold  is  becoming  more  constant,  why 
this  demand  for  gold  is  being  eagerly  made  by  all  the  nations.  It  is 
because  some  one-half  the  quantity  of  money  is  trying  to  do  the  busi- 
ness of  all  the  commerce  and  credit  of  the  world. 

But,  Gentlemen  of  the  Congress,  we  find  that  this  would  not  be  of 
such  a  nature  as  to  crush  us  if  we  are  to  get  a  new  start.  But  when 
we  find  that  there  is  a  gold  standard  that  has  been  adopted  and  that 
the  nations  of  the  world  are  adhering  to  it  and  we  examine  into  the 
annual  product  of  gold,  we  find  that  it  looks  dark  and  gloomy  in  the 
future.  We  know  that  the  total  amount  of  gold  coined  in  the  world  is 
$3,600,000,000.  We  know  that  the  annual  product  of  gold  for  1892, 
which  is  the  last  that  I  have,  was  $130,816,628.  It  has  been  estimated 
by  Mr.  Giffen,  a  gold  mono-metallist,  the  statistician  of  the  London 
Board  of  Trade,  that  of  the  annual  gold  product,  not  one  dollar  of  it 
goes  into  coin.  He  does  not  mean  to  say  that  there  are  not  new  coins 
made,  but  that  the  arts  melt  as  much  coin  each  year  as  there  is  new 
gold  coined.  We  find  that  Sir  Lyon  Playfair  has  estimated  that  15 
per  cent  of  the  annual  gold  product  goes  into  the  arts.  We  know  that 
Professor  C.  L.  Faucet,  another  gold  mono-metallist,  estimates  that  of 
the  annual  product  of  1892,  $110,000,000  of  that  gold  went  into  the 
arts.  This  is  the  testimony  of  the  men  who  are  against  us  upon  the 
theory  of  the  free  coinage  of  silver. 

Taking  the  most  liberal  of  these  estimates,  we  find  that  only 
one-fourth  of  the  annual  gold  product  goes  into  coin,  and  one- 
fourth  of  $130,000,000  is  simply  $32,500,000,  that  each  year  goes 
into  the  coins  to  keep  up  this  great  bulk  of  credit,  this  great  bulk  of 
commerce.  In  other  words,  we  find  $32,000,000,  less  than  one  per 
cent  of  the  total  amount  of  gold  coined  in  the  world,  and  consequently 
we  are  having  the  money  of  ultimate  payment  increased  by  the  ratio  of 
less  than  one  per  cent  per  annum,  and  it  is  bearing  up  and  support- 
ing a  mountain  of  commerce  that  has  for  the  past  20  years  been  in- 
creasing at  the  rate  of  more  than  six  per  cent  per  annum.  We  find  as 
a  consequence  that  when  the  base  is  increasing  at  less  than  one  per 
cent  per  annum  and  the  upper  structure  is  increasing  at  the  rate  of 
some  six  per  cent  per  annum,  the  demands  upon  gold  are  getting  so 
constant  and  so  strong  that  the  inevitable  result  must  be  for  gold  to 
grow  dearer  and  dearer. 

Why,  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  I  find,  upon  examining  as  to 
when  the  demonetization  of  silver  began  among  the  nations  in  the 
world,  that  there  were  but  two  nations  in  the  world  that 
were  using  gold  exclusively  as  a  money  of  ultimate  redemption. 
There  were  three  nations  in  the  world  at  that  time  that  were  simply 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  65 

upon  a  gold  standard.  Great  Britain  was  one  with  a  population  of 
32,000,000,  Portugal  was  one  with  a  population  of  2,000,000  of  peo- 
ple, Turkey  had  a  gold  standard,  but  at  that  time  made  no  demand 
upon  gold,  on  account  of  the  fact  that  it  had  an  irredeemable  paper 
currency,  consequently  when  the  demonetization  of  silver  began  there 
were  but  two  nations  representing  a  population  of  36,000,000  of  people 
that  were  making  a  demand  upon  gold.  We  find  that  at  that  time 
there  were  seven  bi-metallic  nations ;  they  were  France,  Italy,  Belgium, 
Switzerland,  Greece,  Spain,  and  the  United  States,  and  only 
two  of  these  seven  nations  were  using  coin,  gold  and  silver,  the  rest  of 
them  having  an  unconvertible  paper  currency.  Those  two  nations  were 
Belgium  and  Switzerland.  Adding  the  population  of  those  to  the 
population  of  the  gold-standard  nations,  we  find  that  not  to  exceed 
44,000,000  of  people  were  all  that  were  making  a  demand  upon  gold 
in  this  world.  At  that  time  Germany  had  a  silver  standard ;  Austria 
had  a  silver  standard  ;  Russia  had  a  silver  standard  ;  Sweden  and  Nor- 
way, Denmark  and  Holland ;  and  of  these  nations,  silver  nations,  two 
of  them  were  upon  an  irredeemable  paper  currency. 

We  find  then  in  1871,  when  the  demonetization  of  silver  began,  that 
there  were  but  44,000,000  of  people  in  the  world  that  were  making  a 
demand  upon  gold  as  the  money  of  ultimate  payment.  Now  what  do 
we  find  the  conditions  to-day  as  to  the  demand  upon  gold?  We  find 
that  Great  Britain  with  a  population  of  38,000,000  is  using  gold,  we 
find  that  Germany  with  its  50,000,000  is  making  the  demand  upon 
gold,  we  find  that  Austria  has  just  resumed  the  specific  payment  and  is 
using  gold.  Our  reserve  must  be  kept  up,  or  we  will  go  again  to  an 
irredeemable  currency.  We  find  that  Russia  is  striving  in  every 
manner  that  she  can  to  draw  to  that  country  gold  for  war  purposes, 
or  for  what  purposes  we  do  not  know,  but  we  know  that  they  are  con- 
tinually making  that  demand  upon  the  world.  We  find  that  Turkey 
now  with  a  population  of  35,000,000  of  people  is  making  a  demand  for 
gold.  Norway,  Sweden  and  Denmark  with  9,000,000  of  people  are 
making  the  same  demand  for  gold.  Egypt  with  7,000,000  and  the 
United  States  with  its  gigantic  population  of  67,000,000  are  entering 
the  race  and  the  contest  for  gold.  What  is  the  result?  When  the 
demonetization  of  silver  began  there  were  but  44,000,000  of 
people  demanding  gold:  to-day  we  have  440,000,000  of  people  using 
all  the  efforts  that  it  is  possible  for  them  to  make  in  order  to  get  gold 
to  keep  their  reserves  good.  The  minute  this  reserve  in  the  United 
States  falls  below  a  certain  amount,  this  government  insists  that  it  is 
the  proper  thing  for  this  nation  to  issue  more  bonds,  in  order  to  get 
gold  in  its  treasury.  The  fight  is  constant  among  all  the  nations,  and 
is  it  any  wonder  that  gold  has  been  increasing  in  value?  If  part  of 
this  burden  were  shifted  upon  silver,  the  relief  would  come.     But  when 


66  Report  of  Proceedings 

we  find  that  here  is  ten  times  the  population  now  making  the  demand 
for  gold  that  was  made  in  1871  when  demonetization  began,  we  find 
then  that  there  is  such  an  incessant  and  such  a  strong  demand  for  gold 
that  no  one,  it  seems  to  me,  can  deny  that  it  has  appreciated  largely  in 
value.  That  system  indeed  is  pernicious  that  has  a  unit  of  measure- 
ment that  continually,  increases.  If  it  affected  only  gold  and  silver  it 
would  be  insignificant,  but  when  we  know  that  this  unit  of  measure- 
ment measures  not  only  gold  and  silver,  but  measures  everything  else 
in  the  world,  measures  every  other  kind  of  property,  and  every  unit 
increases  with  every  decrease  that  it  will  buy,  we  can  see  the  impor- 
tance, the  enormity  of  this  question. 

A  Delegate  (from  Nebraska)  (interrupting) :  Will  the  gentleman 
please  yield  the  floor  a  moment.  I  have  a  resolution  I  would  like  to 
offer,  for  the  reason  that  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  is  in  session. 
I  want  to  say  that  while  it  is  opposed  to  the  gentleman's  position,  I 
have  no  desire  to  interrupt  him  for  that  purpose. 

Gov.  Waite:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  that  the  reading  of  the  resolu- 
tion be  suspended  until  we  get  through  with  this  address. 

The  resolution  was  read. 

Col.  Shafroth:  From  the  resolution  which  has  been  introduced  I 
would  imagine  that  it  was  the  mover's  intention  that  the  government 
should  continue  the  issuing  of  silver  dollars,  or  the  bullion  contained  in 
these  silver  dollars  by  the  government  itself.  That  position,  gentlemen 
of  the  congress,  I  do  not  believe  will  relieve  the  situation  in  any  way 
whatever.  And  why  ?  As  long  as  it  is  the  policy  of  this  government 
that  it  should  go  to  a  gold  standard,  it  evidently  means  that  its  gold 
will  redeem  all  other  obligations  which  it  has,  and  if  we  once  recognize, 
and  I  understand  it  has  been  recognized  by  this  administration,  that 
the  free  coinage  of  bullion  by  the  government  itself  simply  creates  that 
many  more  obligations  to  be  redeemed  in  gold,  and  consequently  it 
makes  the  demand  upon  gold  that  much  greater. 

Money  has  more  than  one  function.  All  money  acts  as  a  circulating 
medium,  a  medium  of  exchange,  but  when  we  get  to  gold,  and  all  other 
moneys  are  redeemable  in  gold,  it  acts  principally  as  a  money  of  re- 
demption. It  means  that  every  obligation,  no  matter  of  what  nature 
it  may  be,  ultimately,  if  the  holder  of  it  desires,  he  has  got  a  right  to 
demand  that  that  be  paid  in  gold.  You  take  a  promissory  note — go  to 
the  debtor  and  say,  "  I  want  it?  "  He  says  he  will  give  you  a  check. 
You  canjget  that  check  paid  in  national  bank  notes,  and  you  have  a 
right  to  demand  that  those  notes  be  paid.  They  might  pay  in  United 
States  treasury  notes,  or  greenbacks,  but  you  have  a  right  to  go  to  the 
government  and  say  you  want  your  gold  —  consequently  the  govern- 
ment gives  it  to  you.  Consequently  every  obligation,  no  matter  of  what 
nature  it  is,  ultimately  is  payable  in  a  gold  standard  country  in  gold, 


Trans -Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  67 

and  when  we  know  the  amount  of  debt  that  exists  in  the  world,  and 
know  that  there  is  a  continual  demand  for  every  dollar  of  those  obliga- 
tions, a  demand  to  be  paid  not  all  the  time  in  gold,  but  sometimes  at 
least  in  gold  —  it  creates  a  demand  of  such  a  nature  that  has  been 
growing  by  reason  of  the  nations'  demonetizing  silver,  until  at  last 
there  is  no  end  to  where  the  value  of  gold  may  go. 

Now  we  find,  as  I  have  attempted  to  show,  that  first  by  reason  of 
the  complete  demonetization  of  silver  throughout  the  world,  that  the 
burden  upon  gold  would  be  doubled,  and  the  demand  consequently 
doubled  and  the  value  doubled.  We  have  in  addition  to  that  the  fact 
that  when  silver  began  to  be  demonetized  and  this  shifting  of  the  burden 
upon  the  gold  metal  was  begun,  there  were  but  44,000,000  of  people 
demanding  gold  as  the  money  of  ultimate  redemption.  But  we  find 
now  there  are  440,000,000  of  people  that  are  in  this  struggle  for  gold. 

Now,  it  seems  to  me,  according  to  the  principle  of  supply  and  de- 
mand—  I  care  not  how  radical  any  man  may  differ  from  me,  he  cannot 
but  admit  it,  that  these  demands  upon  gold  must  increase  its  value. 
Now  let  us  see  whether  it  has  increased  its  value.  When  we  look 
around,  we  find  that  every  product  has  sunk  in  value,  not  a  little,  but 
double.  We  find  that  wheat  has  sunk  from  $1.31  a  bushel  to  51  cents 
a  bushel ;  cotton  has  sunk  from  18  cents  to  6  cents  a  pound,  and  thus 
you  can  go  over  the  entire  staple  products  and  find  that  this  reduction 
has  followed.  Gold  being  the  unit  of  measurement  its  increase  cannot 
be  estimated  in  dollars  and  cents.  Its  increase  of  value  can  only  be 
found  from  its  increased  purchasing  power,  and  its  increased  pur- 
chasing power  can  only  be  found  in  the  decline  of  everything  that  gold 
will  purchase.  When  we  find  that  the  supply  of  gold  in  the  world 
simply  adds,  to  the  base  upon  which  all  the  credit  and  commerce  of  the 
world  rests,  only  one  per  cent  per  annum,  and  that  commerce  is  going 
on  at  an  increase  of  more  than  6  per  cent  per  annum,  we  know  that 
each  year  the  demand  upon  gold  is  getting  greater  and  greater.  The 
extent  to  which  it  will  appreciate  is  something  beyond  the  apprehen- 
sion of  man. 

Now,  I  want  to  say,  are  we  going  to  stand  a  system  that  continually 
depreciates,  a  unit  of  measurement  that  is  continually  increasing?  We 
cannot  stand  it.  Its  effects  become  serious.  It  makes  it  operate  upon 
falling  markets,  and  falling  markets  to  our  enterprise  mean  in  the  long 
run  ruin  and  disaster.  The  inevitable  result  is  that  the  only  manner 
in  which  matters  can  be  resuscitated,  the  only  way  in  which  we  can 
have  prosperity,  will  be  by  free  coinage  at  the  same  ratio  that  existed 
in  this  government  since  1834  (applause). 

Gold  and  silver  are  automatic  regulators  of  each  other.  When  they 
are  both  moneys  of  ultimate  payment,  moneys  that  can  be  coined  freely, 
the  inevitable  result  is  that  when  one  goes  up  the  fractiou  of  a  cent, 


68  Report  of  Proceedings 

the  demand  begins  upon  the  other,  and  that  incessant  demand  upon  the 
other  brings  back  immediately,  or  soon,  the  same  ratio  that  existed. 
It  is  said  that  the  decrease  in  the  price  of  silver  according  to  the  gold 
standard,  is  on  account  of  its  overproduction,  but  when  we  examine 
into  that  it  is  fallacious  —  there  is  nothing  to  it.  Let  us  see  what  is 
the  amount  of  production.  There  are  $66,000,000  of  silver  pro- 
duced in  a  year  more  than  gold.  They  say  therefore  that  the  pro- 
duction is  so  great  that  the  silver  must  decline.  They  treat 
it  as  if  silver  were  consumed  in  the  using  of  it.  They  treat  it  as 
if  it  were  wheat  —  as  if  one  year's  supply  had  got  to  be  consumed. 
That  is  not  the  fair  way  to  determine  what  is  the  production  of  a  metal 
that  is  everlasting.  The  only  way  to  do  is  to  add  the  annual  product  to 
the  total  amount  of  silver  in  the  world,  and  then  you  will  find  that  the 
relative  increase  over  gold  is  the  slightest  fraction.  I  have  made  a  cal- 
culation as  to  what  that  was  and  when  you  compare  them,  and  find  the 
ratio  of  that  annual  product  of  each  to  the  total  amount  of  gold  and 
silver  respectively  in  the  world,  we  find  that  the  ratio  is,  simply  y3^ 
of  1  per  cent,  the  increase  of  the  entire  amount  of  silver  over  the 
entire  amount  of  gold  in  the  world  —  that  is  according  to  the  very 
highest  amount  of  silver  that  is  produced  in  any  one  year.  It  is  unfair 
to  treat  it  as  a  common  commodity  that  must  be  consumed.  You  take 
a  period  of  forty  years  and  there  has  been  more  than  a  billion  more  of 
gold  produced  in  the  last  forty  years  in  the  world  than  there  has  of 
silver.  It  is  unfair  to  take  each  year's  production,  for  silver  will 
amount  to  more  some  years  and  gold  more  other  years,  and  con- 
sequently it  is  only  by  a  comparison  of  a  long  series  of  years  that  }ou 
can  get  at  the  question  of  overproduction  of  one  metal  as  compared 
with  the  other,  and  we  find  that  even  according  to  these  figures  our 
claim  is  startling  all  the  gold-standard  men.  We  find  when  we  make  a 
proper  comparison,  that  silver  to-day  is  increasing.  If  that  ratio  would 
increase  only  one-fifth  or  one-third  of  one  per  cent  per  annum,  this 
theory  that  the  minting  silver  would  give  the  relief  is  all  wrong  and  self- 
exploded. 

Now,  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  it  is  said  that  we  will  become  the 
dumping  ground  of  Europe  if  we  open  our  mints  to  the  coinage  of  silver. 
But  where  is  this  silver  coming  from?  It  has  been  estimated  by  Sena- 
tor Jones  that  there  is  not  to-day  more  than  $25,000,000  of  silver  bul- 
lion in  the  world  ready  for  coinage.  Where  is  it  coming  from  ?  Will 
the  people  of  Europe  who  have  their  gold  and  silver  money  in  t^eir 
pockets  bring  it  to  America  and  coin  it?  No.  Why?  Because  it  is 
worth  more  to  them  in  that  very  nation  than  it  would  be  if  they  were  to 
bring  it  to  America  and  coin  it.  Suppose  we  find  that  silver  will  pur- 
chase $1.33  worth  of  products  in  Europe?  Is  it  possible  that  any  man 
who  has  a  piece  of  metal,  or  a  piece  of  money  that  has  that  purchasing 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  69 

power  in  Europe,  will  coin  it  in  America?  There  is  a  large  amount  of 
silver  destroyed  that  is  not  in  coin,  but  what  is  it?  It  is  in  the  arts. 
Are  they  going  to  melt  down  the  treasures  of  the  arts  for  the  purpose 
of  coining?  No,  they  cannot  do  that,  it  would  be  too  costly  an  experi- 
ment. The  manufacturing  of  these  articles  into  the  arts  cost  more  than 
any  person  would  gain  by  it,  and  consequently  we  see  that  all  this  talk 
about  the  dumping  of  silver  from  Europe  on  to  our  country  is  some- 
thing that  has  no  relation  to  us,  so  far  as  Europe  is  concerned,  and 
very  little  relation  to  the  other  nations  of  the  world.  When  we  find 
that  in  1890  with  a  free  coinage  bill  passing  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  and  while  it  was  still  pending  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
that  silver  not  only  in  the  United  States  but  throughout  all  the  world 
rose  from  82  cents  to  $1.21  an  ounce,  what  would  have  been  the  effect  if 
the  House  had  passed  the  bill  and  the  President  had  signed  it  ?  When- 
ever we  find  that  the  American  Congress  has  passed  an  act  making  the 
ratio  of  16  to  1  —  when  this  great  nation  with  its  consuming  power  of 
products  of  more  than  any  300,000,000  of  people  of  any  other  part 
of  the  world  —  we  know  that  it  possesses  a  power  that  will  unques- 
tionably bring  that  product  to  the  amount  of  $1.29  per  ounce.  If  the 
mere  passage  through  one  house  of  the  National  Congress  would  raise 
the  price  of  silver,  not  only  in  the.  United  States  and  in  our  own  mar- 
kets, but  in  the  London  market,  in  the  markets  of  the  world,  to  $1.21 
an  ounce,  can  we  seriously  doubt  that  this  great  and  incessant  demand 
which  this  nation  would  make  upon  silver  would  raise  it  to  $1.29  an 
ounce  ? 

Gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  I  have  wearied  you  too  long.  I  thank 
you  for  your  attention  and  will  say  good-bye. 

Senator  Johnston:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  wish  to  make  a  motion  that  a 
special  order  be  made  —  in  order  that  the  congress  may  understand 
what  I  mean,  I  desire  to  premise  my  motion  with  a  few  remarks. 

There  has  been  a  grand  work  laid  out  for  this  congress.  The  irri- 
gationists  have  had  a  special  order,  and  the  time  has  been  well  spent. 
The  silver  question  has  had  a  special  order,  and  we  have  been  highly 
entertained.  The  Nicaragua  Canal  question  is  a  special  order,  and  the 
Hawaiian  question  a  special  order,  and  I  think  that  this  question  will 
entertain  us  well.  But  there  are  a  few  million  people  engaged  in  an 
enterprise  in  this  great  country  of  ours  that  do  not  seem  to  have  had  a 
special  order,  and  in  looking  over  this  audience  I  find  a  few  delegates 
here  that  I  have  met  in  other  States.  My  object  in  getting  the  floor  is 
to  ask  for  a  special  order  to-morrow  morning,  immediately  after  the 
preliminary  business,  for  the  discussion  of  Staple  Agriculture. 

This  motion  was  seconded. 

The  Chairman:  Any  limit  to  the  time? 


70  Report  of  Proceedings 

Senator  Johnston:  Two  hours. 

Mr.  Ridgeley:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  desire  to  state  in  support  of  the 
resolution  of  Senator  Johnston  from  California,  that  the  Committee  on 
Eesolutions  has  subdivided,  and  a  subdivision  of  the  Committee  has 
been  instructed  to  take  charge  of  all  matters  pertaining  to  agriculture, 
in  the  form  of  resolutions  that  may  come  before  this  congress,  and  I 
apprehend  that  unless  there  is  a  special  order  before  us  at  this  time,  it 
might  as  well  come  up  now  and  discuss  it  and  refer  it  to  the  Committee.. 

The  Chairman:  The  motion  is  that  two  hours,  after  the  preliminary 
business  is  disposed  of,  to-morrow  morning  shall  be  devoted  to  the 
discussion  of  Staple  Agriculture.     Carried. 

Mr.  Ridgeley:  I  take  advantage  of  a  momentary  delay  to  call  at- 
tention to  the  regular  order  of  business  this  afternoon.  I  think  these 
resolutions  might  be  passed  through  to  the  Committee  without  reading 
and  we  could  take  up  the  regular  order  of  business. 

The  Chairman  :  It  was  the  intention  of  the  Chair  to  stop  all  further 
proceedings  when  that  hour  arrived. 

Mr.  Benjamin  (of  California) :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  a  resolution 
from  the  Miners'  Association  of  California  relative  to  the  Rehabilita- 
tion of  Hydraulic  Mining. 

The  resolution  was  read. 

Several  resolutions  were  introduced  and  read. 

Some  discussion  then  followed  as  to  the  time  when  the  Committee 
on  Resolutions  should  report,  with  a  view  to  having  all  the  delegates 
present  when  the  report  was  received. 

It  was  then  moved  and  seconded  that  the  Committee  on  Rules  and 
Order  of  Business  be  instructed  to  fix  a  time  when  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions  will  report  to  the  congress. 

An  amendment  was  offered  that  the  Committee  give  notice  to  the 
convention  at  least  one  session  prior  to  the  time  when  it  shall  be 
taken  up. 

The  amendment  was  accepted. 

The  Chairman  :  The  motion  is  to  the  effect  that  the  congress  will  be 
properly  notified  and  progress  will  be  reported,  and  nothing  will  be 
brought  forward  for  action  before  the  congress  without  a  notice  of  one 
session  in  advance. 

Senator  Johnston  suggested  that  a  certain  hour  be  fixed  for  the  Com- 
mittee to  report. 

Col.  Leighton:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  will  offer  as  an  amendment  to  the 
motion,  that  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  be  requested  to  report  such 
matters  as  they  have  perfected  to-morrow  at  2  :30  o'clock.   . 

Judge  Goodwin  :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  to  lay  the  whole  business 
on  the  table.  The  Committee  on  Resolutions  cannot  tell  when  they  will 
get  through.     I  heard  of  an  Irishman  once  who  ordered  a  coffin  of  a 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress,  71 

certain  size.  The  undertaker  asked  him  if  the  man  was  dead.  He 
says,  "  No,  but  he  will  die  before  morning,  because  the  doctor  says  so, 
and  he  says  he  knows  what  he  is  giving  him."  (Laughter.)  Now,  no 
one  knows  what  is  coming  up  in  the  Committee  on  Resolutions.  It  is 
supposed  that  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  understands  thoroughly 
that  the  convention  is  anxious  to  get  through  with  its  work,  and  the 
Committee  will  make  reports  as  fast  as  it  prepares  them.  <  I  move  again 
that  this  whole  matter  be  laid  on  the  table. 

Mr.  Bryan  :  Mr.  Chairman,  that  Committee  has  already'adopted  a 
rule  that  as  fast  as  they  reach  a  conclusion  upon  any  subject-matter  it 
shall  be  reported  to  the  convention. 

The  Chairman  :  Members  have  heard  these  explanations  —  the  point 
seems  to  be  by  Col.  Leighton  of  Missouri,  that  there  shall  be  no 
surprise  sprung  on  the  congress  without  formal  notice. 

Mr.  Craig  :  I  rise  to  a  point  of  order  —  there  can  be  no  discussion  on 
a  moiion  to  lay  on  the  table. 

The  point  of  order  was  sustained  and  the  motion  seconded  and 
carried. 

The  Chairman  :  The  Secretary  has  two  or  three  communications  to 
read,  and  we  will  then  proceed  to  the  regular  order  of  business. 

Invitations  were  then  read  to  visit  the  Public  Library  and  Miss 
Rorers'  Cooking  School  Lectures,  also  the  Anheuser-Busch  Brewing 
Association. 

Mr.  Whitmore:  Mr.  Chairman,  as  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee, I  desire  to  give  notice  that  a  meetiog  of  that  Committee  will  be 
held  in  parlor  "  F"  of  the  Planters'  House  immediately  after  the  ad- 
journment of  this  session.  Inasmuch  as  we  have  instructions  to  make 
some  sort  of  a  report  to-morrow  morning  in  regard  to  the  matter 
referred  to  it  at  the  San  Francisco  convention,  every  member  of  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  congress  is  requested  to  be  present. 

W.  H.  Culmer  (of  Utah) :  Mr.  Chairman,  there  has  been  a 
number  of  inquiries  made  of  me  for  proceedings  of  the 
last  congress  at  San  Francisco.  It  was  expected  that  copies  would  be 
on  the  table  here.  If  announcement  would  be  made  that  copies  of  the 
Ogden  and  San  Francisco  congresses  could  be  had,  there  are  a  number 
of  members  who  would  be  glad  to  get  them. 

Mr.  Whitmore  :  In  regard  to  the  proceedings  of  the  San  Francisco 
congress,  I  desire  to  say  that  only  about  40  or  50  copies  were  sent  to 
St.  Louis,  and  those  were  nearly  all  distributed  at  the  Merchants'  Ex- 
Change  for  whom  they  were  sent ;  there  are  probably  not  over  ten  or  a 
dozen  copies  left. 

President  Cannon  :  The  hour  having  arrived  for  the  regular  order  of 
business,  the  Chair  takes  pleasure  in  introducing  to  the  congress  ex-Gov. 
Prince  of  New  Mexico,  who  will  address  the  congress  on  Bi-metallism. 


72  Report  of  Proceedings 

ADDRESS    OF   HON.    L.    B.   PRINCE. 
Bimetallism  vs.  The  Single  Standard. 

The  subject  of  a  single  or  double  standard  for  money  value  — 
of  monometallism  or  bimetallism  —  is  attracting  more  attention  the 
world  over,  to-day,  than  any  other. 

It  affects  every  human  being  living  in  "  civilized  countries,"  because 
it  necessarily  controls  all  values ;  of  land,  of  products  of  industry  and 
of  labor  on  the  one  hand;  of  money,  and  hence  of  capital,  interest 
and  fixed  incomes  on  the  other. 

In  the  language  of  the  great  European  authority  on  coinage :  "  It  is 
the  question  of  the  age." 

The  chief  difficulty  in  its  discussion  in  the  United  States  has  been  that 
it  has  taken  a  sectional  turn,  and  that  the  people  of  the  two  sections 
so  misunderstand  each  other  on  the  subject,  that  any  fair  discussion 
is  about  impossible.  That  the  West,  which  is  the  producer  of  the 
great  staples,  with  its  wealth  in  the  form  of  commodities,  and  owing 
large  debts,  payable  in  dollars,  should  desire  the  money  basis  to 
retain  the  double  standard  existing  through  all  history;  and  that 
English  and  German  bankers,  the  great  creditors  of  the  world,  receiv- 
ing their  interest  in  money,  should  desire  a  contracted  financial  basis, 
is  perfectly  natural.  It  was  to  be  expected  that  those  of  our  people  in 
the  East  who  are  under  foreign  control  and  others  of  the  creditor  class 
selfishly  interested  in  the  increase  of  the  value  of  money  would  unite 
with  the  foreign  bankers  in  their  single-standard  method  of  contrac- 
tion ;  but  the  misfortune  is  that  the  great  body  of  Americans  east  of 
the  Mississippi,  really  patriotic  at  heart*  and  anxious  for  national  pros- 
perny,  should  have  given  so  little  attention  to  the  subject  as  to  imagine 
their  interests  also  to  be  different  from  those  of  their  western  brethren. 
Hence  has  arisen  the  misunderstanding  to  which  I  have  referred. 

No  better  place  for  a  fair  discussion  of  the  question  could  be  found 
than  St.  Louis,  the  central  city  of  the  country,  midway  between  the 
East  and  the  West ;  and  I  have  felt  that  I  might  not  inappropriately 
attempt  something  toward  a  reconciliation  of  sectional  views,  or  at  least 
a  partial  clearing  away  of  prejudices,  on  account  of  an  almost  equal 
connection  with  each  section. 

Having  served  seven  years  in  either  branch  of  the  legislature  of  the 
Empire  State,  twice  honored  by  votes  of  thanks  of  the  N.  Y.  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  and  still  holding  an  honora^  membership  in  the  N.  Y. 
Board  of  Trade,  I  am  not  unfamiliar  with  eastern  sentiments ;  while  a 
still  larger  service  as  Chief  Justice  and  Governor  of  a  western  territory, 
and  connections  with  various  other  bodies,  commercial,  scientific  and 
literary,  including  the  past  presidency  of  the  important  representative 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  73 

body  which  I  now  address,  has  given  some  experience  of  feeling  in 
the  West,  so  that  I  can,  at  any  rate,  speak  without  favor  or  prejudice. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  let  us  clean  away  some  of  the  rubbish  of 
vituperation. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  many  western  people  look  upon  those  of  the 
East  as  their  enemies  ;  that  such  terms  as  ' '  gold  bug, "  "  plutocrat ' '  and 
"  Shylock  "  are  not  only  used  but  believed  to  be  deserved,  and  that  the 
sole  idea  of  eastern  capitalists  is  thought  to  be  a  wicked  desire  to  ruin 
their  poorer  brethren  of  the  West.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  unusual 
to  hear  eastern  men  speak  of  those  of  the  West  as  inflationists,  as 
"  cheap  money  men,"  as  absolutely  dishonest  and  as  "  wanting  to  get  a 
dollar  for  50  cents."  A  fair-minded  man,  traveling  from  one  section 
to  another,  has  constantly  to  defend  his  fellow-citizens  from  these 
reciprocal  slanders. 

As  matter  of  fact,  the  western  man  is  as  jealous  of  his  good  name 
and  as  proud  of  his  business  integrity  as  any  one  living.  As  a  rule,  he 
is  a  bimetallist,  because  he  hears  the  subject  constantly  discussed,  has 
given  it  careful  study,  understands  the  necessary  results  of  demone- 
tizing half  the  money  metal  of  the  world,  and  sees  these  results  in  actual 
existence,  in  the  constant  shrinkage  of  values,  the  prevalence  of  "hard 
times  "  and  the  destitution  of  the  people. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  eastern  monometalist,  as  a  rule,  is  not  the 
depraved  creature  he  is  thought  to  be,  filled  with  a  satanic  desire  to 
ruin  his  fellow-citizens ;  he  has  simply  been  so  situated  that  he  has 
given  no  attention  to  the  financial  questions  involved  in  demonetization, 
he  has  seen  nothing  but  gold  views  in  the  journals  he  reads,  and  takes 
it  for  granted  that  they  are  correct. 

In  the  hurry  of  business  life  comparatively  few  Americans  find  time 
to  read  anything  but  the  newspapers,  and  if  in  some  locality  these  all 
concur  in  one  opinion,  it  is  apt  to  be  adopted  without  inquiry.  In 
short,  the  great  majority  of  eastern  people  are  not  wicked  in  their 
opposition  to  bimetallism,  but  simply  uninformed. 

This  word  is  not  used  in  any  offensive  sense,  but  merely  to  state  the 
exact  fact,  and  to  repel  the  idea  of  conscious  wrong-doing.  There  are 
dozens  of  subjects  with  which  the  people  of  the  East  are  far  better  ac- 
quainted than  those  of  the  West,  but  it  happens  that,  for  various 
reasons,  on  this  particular  topic  the  reverse  is  the  case.  In  fact  the 
ignorance  of  it  by  the  generally  intelligent  eastern  community  is 
phenomenal ;  as  an  illustration  of  which  I  may  mention  that  among 
hundreds  of  the  best  citizens  of  New  York  whom  I  have  met  during  the 
last  two  years,  I  have  found  but  one  who  had  ever  read  the  report  of 
the  Brussels  Conference,  though  that  is  published  gratuitously  by 
Congress  and  is  the  most  convenient  and  satisfactory  of  impartial 
statements. 


74  Report  of  Proceedings 

If  the  matter  were  studied  and  discussed  in  the  East  as  it  is  in  the 
West,  except  among  Anglo-maniacs  who  have  no  love  for  their  own 
country  in  their  hearts,  and  money  lenders  who  know  no  principle  but 
selfishness,  there  would  not  be  a  monometallist  in  the  East  any  more 
than  in  the  West. 

What  we  should  lay  special  stress  upon,  then,  is  the  educational 
idea.  We  can  never  expect  justice  to  the  producer  and  a  restoration 
of  national  prosperity  until  we  have  the  aid  of  our  Eastern  brethren  in 
undoing  the  pernicious  legislation  of  1873  and  giving  us  again  the  bi- 
metallism which  is  the  only  safeguard  of  stability  in  property  values  and 
protector  of  the  rights  of  labor ;  and  we  cannot  have  that  co-operation 
until  they  have  become  informed  as  to  the  questions  at  issue  so  as  to 
act  intelligently. 

The  great  plea  of  the  West  to  the  East,  then,  should  be,  to 
educate  itself  on  this  subject,  to  read,  to  learn,  to  think,  to 
know,  of  its  principles  and  its  effects.  From  the  Presi- 
dent down  it  has  been  too  much  the  habit  to  accept  the 
conclusion  of  some  newspaper,  without  thought,  though  the  subject 
directly  affects  the  happiness  of  more  human  beings  in  America  than 
all  others  combined.  In  the  language  of  Senator  Dumas,  of  the  French 
Legislative  Chamber,  "Those  who  approach  these  questions  for  the 
first  time,  decide  them  at  once.  Those  who  study  them  with  care, 
hesitate.  Those  obliged  to  decide  them  are  overwhelmed  with  the 
weight  of  enormous  responsibility." 

In  the  first  place,  let  us  remind  our  eastern  friends  that  bimetallists 
are  not  asking  for  anything  new  or  unusual  or  untried.  On  the  con- 
trary the  joint  use  of  gold  and  silver  as  measures  of  value  and  mediums 
of  exchange  —  in  other  words,  as  money  —  has  been  the  universal  cus- 
tom of  the  world  since  the  birth  of  civilization.  Iron  may  have  been 
used  in  Sparta  and  wampum  among  American  Indians,  platina  was  for 
a  time  coined  in  Russia,  but  all  these  were  exceptional  and  never 
entered  into  commercial  transactions.  Gold  and  silver  by  unanimous 
consent  have  constituted  the  money  of  the  world  ever  since  money  was 
used. 

Coming  down  to  our  own  times,  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of 
these  two  metals  was  the  heritage  of  the  American  people  in  colonial 
days,  as  it  was  enacted  in  England  in  1666  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II 
and  again  under  George  III  in  1768,  and  continued  until  long  after 
the  Revolution. 

When  the  constitution  was  framed,  it  especially  recognized  gold  and 
silver  equally  as  the  only  proper  measure  of  value,  prohibiting  the 
States  from  making  anything  but  them  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  Congress,  under  the  presidency  of  Washing- 
ton, provided  for  the  free  coinage  of  both  metals  at  the  national  mints. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  75 

Any  one  possessed  of  either  gold  or  silver  could  present  it  and  receive 
its  weight  in  coin  of  the  same  metal.  This  condition  of  things  continued 
uninterruptedly  until  the  act  which  demonetized  silver  in  1873 ;  the 
right  of  the  people  to  free  and  unlimited  coinage  never  having  been 
intefered  with  in  any  way  till  then.  So  the  history  of  the  world  and 
the  laws  and  traditions  of  the  American  people  were  all  on  the  side  of 
bimetallism  till  that  date. 

When  demonetization  took  place  it  was  by  stealth,  absolute^  without 
the  knowledge  of  the  American  people,  and,  as  appears,  without  the 
knowledge  of  any  members  of  Congress  with  the  possible  exception  of 
three.  No  newspaper  uttered  a  word  on  the  subject.  The  title  of  the 
act  gave  no  suggestion  of  any  such  object.  It  was  understood  by  all 
that  the  bill  which  passed  was  simply  a  revision  of  the  mint  laws,  and 
very  little  attention  was  given  to  it.  When  it  was  discovered  some 
time  afterward  that  by  the  omission  of  the  standard  silver  dollar  from 
the  act,  silver  had  been  demonetized,  the  country  was  amazed.  Sen- 
ators and  representatives  all  over  the  land  rose  to  disavow  any  knowl- 
edge of  the  change.  It  is  not  necessary  to  quote  many  of  them,  but  a 
few  statements  may  be  desirable  to  show  the  facts. 

Senator  Beck  said  (Jan.  10,  1878):  "  It  never  was  understood  by 
either  house  of  Congress.     I  say  this  with  full  knowledge  of  the  facts." 

Mr.  Kelly  of  Pennsylvania,  long  the  "Father  of  the  House' '  said 
(March  9,  1878):— 

"Though  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Coinage  I  was  ignorant  of 
the  fact  that  it  would  demonetize  the  silver  dollar." 

And  again  (May  10,  1879) :  — 

"In  all  the  legislation  of  this  country  there  is  no  mystery  equal  to 
the  demonetization  of  the  standard  silver  dollar." 

Senator  Thurman  said  (Feb.  15,  1878)  :  — 

"  When  the  bill  was  pending  in  the  Senate,  we  thought  it  was  simply 
a  bill  to  reform  the  mint,  etc. ,  and  there  is  not  a  single  man  in  the 
Senate,  I  think,  unless  a  member  of  the  Committee  from  which  the  bill 
came,  who  had  the  slightest  idea  that  it  was  even  a  squint  toward 
demonetization." 

Mr.  Holman  of  Indiana,  said  (Aug.  5,  1876):  — 

"  The  original  bill  was  simply  to  organize  a  bureau  of  mines  and  coin- 
age.   The  bill  which  finally  passed  was  certainly  not  read  in  this  House. ' ' 

Similar  statements  of  eminent  congressmen  including  Gen.  Garfield, 
Senator  Allison  and  others  could  be  multiplied  indefinitely.  In  the 
colloquy  between  Senator  Blaine  and  Senator  Voorhies,  Feb.  15,  1878, 
each  in  turn  emphatically  denied  any  knowledge  of  the  demonetization. 

Senator  Hereford  (Feb.  13,  1878)  said:  — 

"  Beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt,  that  bill,  as  it  passed,  never  was 
read,  never  was  discussed." 


76  Report  of  Proceedings 

Mr.  Cannon  of  Illinois  said  (July  13,  1876):  — 

"  It  was  not  discussed,  as  shown  by  the  "  Record,"  and  neither 
members  of  Congress  nor  the  people  understood  the  scope  of  the  legis- 
lation." 

And  even  Senator  Sherman,  in  his  Marietta  speech  in  1876,  said:  — 

"  Both  Houses  were  in  favor  of  issuing  the  old  dollar,  the  dollar  in 
legal  existence  since  1792,  containing  412  t8q  grains,  and  only  demone- 
tized in  1873,  when  it  was  worth  2  per  cent  more  than  the  gold 
dollar." 

No  one  has  ever  dared  acknowledge  the  paternity  of  this  secret  and 
injurious  act.  Not  a  single  member  of  either  house  of  Congress  has 
ever  confessed  that  he  knowingly  voted  for  it.  Perhaps  there  is  no 
other  example  in  history  of  any  act  so  unjustificable  that  no  one 
would  admit  any  connection  with  it. 

Yet  all  that  bimetallists  contend  for  is  that  this  act,  thus  secretly  and 
fraudulently  passed,  without  knowledge  by  legislators  or  people,  and 
which  no  one  will  even  yet  defend,  should  be  repealed.  It  never  rep- 
resented the  will  of  the  people,  and  hence  should  not  be.  on  the  statute 
book.  In  the  words  of  Mr.  Holman  (July  13,  1876):  "  The  meas- 
ure never  had  the  sanction  of  the  House  and  it  does  not  possess  the 
moral  force  of  law." 

There  was  no  excuse  for  its  passage.  At  that  very  moment  our  silver 
coin  was  actually  worth  three  per  cent  more  than  our  gold  coin,  and 
brought  at  least  one  and  one-half  per  cent  more  for  exportation.  There 
was  no  trouble  arising  from  an  oversupply.  The  act  could  not  have 
received  a  score  of  votes  if  Congress  and  the  people  had  understood 
what  it  was.     It  was  the  child  of  stealth  and  fraud. 

While  Mr.  Kelly  said  in  1879,  "  I  have  never  found  a  man  who  could 
tell  just  how  it  came  about,"  yet  every  one  knows  that  it  was  the  work 
of  the  British  money  lenders,  aided  by  their  agents  in  our  great  cities. 

Their  interest  in  it  was  enormous.  England  is  a  creditor  nation  to 
the  extent  of  about  ten  billion  dollars.  She  holds  the  securities  of  other 
lands  to  that  extent,  and  draws  from  them  each  year  $500,000,000  in 
interest. 

The  best  computations  show  that  we  alone  are  paying  her  $200,000,000 
a  year  in  interest ;  more  than  half  a  million  a  day !  Every  increase  in 
the  value  of  a  dollar,  therefore,  enormously  enlarged  her  income.  By 
demonetizing  one  of  the  two  money  metals,  the  remaining  money  in  the 
world,  —  reduced  one-half  in  volume,  —  would  rapidly  increase  in  pur- 
chasing power.  This  was  perfectly  easy  to  foresee.  Her  money 
lenders  wished  contraction  in  order  to  increase  the  value  of  their 
investments,  principal  and  interest.  The  demonetization  of  one  of  the 
two  precious  metals  was  the  easiest  way  to  accomplish  this.  They  did 
not  care  which  metal  it  was  ;  the  result  would  be  the  same.     For  some 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  77 

years  they  favored  the  plan  to  demonetize  gold,  and  Chevalier  and  others 
earnestly  advocated  that  course.  But  that  did  not  succeed  and  then 
they  attacked  silver.  Here  they  achieved  success  by  the  secret  passage 
of  the  Act  of  1873. 

Bimetallists  simply  ask  that  this  act  be  repealed  and  the  law  of  free 
coinage  be  restored  as  it  had  always  been  before.  Monometallists 
resist  this.  That  is  the  whole  issue.  Yet  the  press  of  the  East  has 
caused  thousands  to  believe  that  bimetallists  are  asking  some  new 
privileges  for  silver.  I  submit  that  it  is  the  monometallists,  who  are 
insisting  on  a  change  from  the  universal  custom,  and  asking  it  through 
a  perpetuation  of  an  acknowledged  fraud,  who  should  be  on  the  defen- 
sive, and  that  the  burden  of  proof  of  good  results  is  on  them. 

Prominent  among  the  misrepresentations  so  constantly  reiterated 
that  it  has  quite  permeated  the  eastern  mind,  is  that  the  bimetallists 
of  the  West  are  u  a  lot  of  silver  miners  who  want  to  get  a  dollar  for 
fifty  cents  worth  of  silver." 

This  is  not  an  exaggerated  statement  of  much  current  Eastern 
opinion.  And  yet  we  all  know  that  nothing  could  be  more  absurd. 
Of  course  the  silver  mining  interest  is  much  affected,  and  most  silver 
miners  are  bimetallists,  but  their  number  is  so  small  compared  with 
the  vast  body  of  the  people  affected  by  the  lists  of  contraction,  and  the 
silver  product  so  insignificant,  compared  with  the  immense  volume  of 
commodities  reduced  to  little  more  than  half  their  proper  value,  that 
they  need  scarcely  be  considered  as  a  factor. 

It  may  clear  the  air  of  misconceptions,  if  it  is  distinctly  understood 
that  if  there  were  not  a  single  silver  miner  in  the  United  States,  nor 
an  ounce  of  that  metal  produced  within  our  borders,  the  question  of 
bimetallism  would  be  unchanged,  and  the  injury  to  our  people  and 
destruction  of  the  property  consequent  on  the  demonetization  of  1873, 
would  be  exactly  as  it  is  to-day.  The  countries  which  have  given  the 
most  careful  attention  to  the  subject,  like  France  and  Belgium,  do  not 
produce  a  single  ounce  of  silver. 

The  total  annual  product  of  silver  has  never  reached  60  million 
ounces  ;  in  1892  it  was  58,000,000  ;  last  year  it  was  considerably  less  ; 
while  the  product  of  wheat  averages  about  500,000,000  bushels.  The 
average  price  of  wheat  in  1873  was  SI. 29  ;  while  to-day  it  is  selling  at 
your  Exchange  at  50  cents,  after  paying  freight  to  St.  Louis.  The  loss 
to  the  producer  of  silver,  through  demonetization,  was  never  in  any 
year  over  $32,000,000,  while  the  loss,  for  the  same  cause,  to  the  producer 
of  wheat,  was  over  $250,000,000. 

In  the  same  way  every  producer  has  suffered. 

Taking  some  of  the  great  staples  of  our  country,  we  find,  for  exam- 
ple, that  the  cotton  crop  for  last  year  was  6,600,000  bales,  of  about 
470  pounds  each.     In  1873  it  was  worth   16  cents  a  pound.     The  crop 


78  Report  of  Proceed! 


of  last  year  will  not  bring  the  planter  6  cents,  showing  a  net  loss 
through  demonetization,  of  ten  cents  a  pound,  or  over  $310,000,000. 

Looking  at  it  by  acreage,  the  fall  in  cotton  in  the  20  years  has  been 
from  $28.01  to  $10.65  per  acre,  being  a  loss  of  62  per  cent. 

On  wheat  the  fall  has  been  from  $13.16  to  $6.00  per  acre,  or  over  54 
per  cent.  Or,  if  we  take  the  average  of  the  five  great  staples,  wheat, 
corn,  oats,  hay  and  cotton,  the  average  acre  value  in  1873  was  $15.65, 
in  1893  $8.15,  showing  a  fall  of  nearly  48  per  cent. 

When  these  facts  are  presented  to  the  monometallist  he  immediately 
answers  that  the  loss  in  value  is  the  result  of  overproduction  or  of  im- 
proved machinery.  But  the  improved  machinery  with  scarcely  an 
exception  was  in  operation  before  1873,  and  the  constant  fall  in  prices 
continues  just  the  same  from  year  to  year  as  at  the  beginning  of  the  20 
years  period.  Wheat  and  cotton  have  never  within  the  century  been 
as  low  as  they  are  to-day.  And  if  we  examine  as  to  the  production, 
we  will  find  that  the  facts  are  against  the  theory.  The  cotton  crop  was 
9,000,000  bales  in  1891,  6,717,000  in  1892  and  but  6,600,000  in  1893, 
showing  a  large   reduction,  at  the  same  time  that  the  price  decreased. 

The  wheat  crop  for  a  number  of  years  has  been  about  500  million 
bushels,  in  1892  it  was  516,000,000,  in  1893  it  fell  to  less  than  400 
millions  (396,000,000). 

If  the  production  of  wheat  in  the  whole  world  is  taken,  in  1891  it 
was  2,432  millions,  in  1892  it  fell  to  2,403  millions,  and  in  1893  to  1,904 
millions. 

So  the  overproduction  theory  only  betrays  ignorance. 

Altogether  it  is  calculated  that  if  the  aggregate  of  agricultural  prod- 
ucts raised  in  1893  could  be  sold  for  the  bimetallic  price  of  1873,  the 
gain  to  the  farming  communtty  would  be  nearly  or  quite  1,500,000,000 
of  dollars. 

In  other  words  they  have  lost  that  vast  amount  on  the  crops  of  a 
single  year  through  the  demonetization  of  silver  and  consequent  rise  in 
the  value  of  the  remaining  money. 

This  simple  statement  is  sufficiently  startling,  surely,  to  arrest  the 
a'tention  of  the  nation;  but  the  point  I  wish  to  suggest  now  is,  that 
compared  with  this  enormous  loss  on  agricultural  products,  the  loss  of 
$32,000,000  by  the  silver  producers  is  too  small  to  call  for  special  con- 
sideration, although  it  entailed  on  the  mining  community  a  grievous 
amount  of  suffering  and  destitution. 

The  fall  in  prices  when  measured  by  money  is  not  at  all  confined  to 
the  products  of  the  soil,  which  have  been  referred  to  principally  because 
we  have  more  accurate  statistics  regarding  these  great  staples  than 
other  commodities.  Every  kind  of  tangible  property  has  suffered  the 
same  comparative  diminution  in  value.  The  selling  prices  of  real  estate, 
except  in  growing  cities  and  localities  where  there  is  a  natural  increase, 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  79 

have  fallen  to  a  similar  extent,  as  is  abundantly  shown  by  country 
property  in  the  eastern  States.  While  often  ascribed  to  various  local 
causes,  the  actual  reason  is  simply  the  increase  in  the  value  of  the 
money  for  which  the  sale  is  to  be  made. 

And  so  it  is  of  every  kind  of  property  possessed  by  man. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  interest  of  the  silver  producer  in  the 
restoration  of  bimetallism  is  very  insignificant  in  comparison  with  the 
vast  interests  of  the  farmer,  the  planter  and  indeed  of  the  owner  of 
commodities  of  any  kind. 

President  Andrews  of  Brown  University,  at  the  Brussels  Conference 
stated  that  the  silver  constituted  but  y^-  of  one  per  cent,  or  10^00  of 
the  whole,  of  the  total  national  product  of  the  United  States,  in 
1890. 

The  importance  of  silver  comes  from  its  being  a  money  metal,  a 
measure  of  value.  The  idea  current  at  the  East  that  silver  miners  only 
are  interested  in  the  remonetization  of  the  white  metal  is  about  as  sensi- 
ble as  it  would  be,  in  case  Congress  should  pass  an  act  lengthening  the 
yard  to  fifty  inches  or  enlarging  a  bushel  to  fifty  quarts,  to  insist  that 
the  only  persons  opposing  the  change  were  the  manufacturers  of  yard- 
sticks and  bushel  baskets,  because  of  the  increased  amount  of  material 
required  for  their  construction.  £n  such  a  case  those  who  would  bear 
the  real  loss,  of  course  would  be  the  persons  who  had  to  supply  their 
products  by  the  new  and  enlarged  measures,  not  those  who  simply 
furnish  the  measures  themselves. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  although  its  principal  use  from  time 
immemorial  ha3  been  destroyed  by  legislation,  yet  silver  has  not 
decreased  in  money  value  more  than  other  products  of  industry.  It 
has,  of  course,  felt  the  general  effect  of  the  rise  in  the  value  of  gold 
money,  but  has  kept'on  a  par  with  other  staple  articles.  An  ounce  of 
silver  will  buy  as  much  wheat  or  corn,  or  hay  or  oats,  or  wool  or 
cotton  as  it  would  before  the  Act  of  1873.  The  tables  showing  this 
are  too  well  known  to  be  repeated  here.  Every  commodity  has  been 
reduced  in  its  money  value  since  the  single  gold  standard  was  estab- 
lished and  money  began  to  increase  in  value.  To-day,  according  to 
best  authorities,  money  has  risen  to  about  147,  calling  it  par  in  1873. 
Of  course,  this  correspondingly  reduces  the  price  of  everything  else 
when  compared  with  it. 

It  is  true  that  one  sometimes  meets  people  who  think  that  some 
certain  commodity,  as  silver  or  wheat,  has  gone  down  in  value 
instead  of  money  having  gone  up.  They  are  like  the  ignorant 
man  who  supposes  that  the  sun  revolves  around  the  earth  each 
day,  because  it  appears  to  do  so ;  or  like  a  child  in  a  railroad 
car,  who  thinks  that  the  people  on  the  platform  are  moving  back- 
ward  when   the   train  begins  to  move  forward.     But  when  the  man 


80  Report  of  Proceedings 

sees  that  all  the  heavenly  bodies  are  apparently  revolving  as  well  as  the 
sun,  he  will  gradually  realize  that  it  is  the  earth  which  turns  and  not 
the  myriads  of  bodies  that  surround  it ;  and  when  the  child  sees  that 
the  houses  and  the  trees  and  all  other  objects  are  apparently  moving 
backward,  as  well  as  the  by-standers,  he  learns  that  the  train  in  which 
he  sits  is  that  which  is  really  in  motion,  and  not  all  surrounding  things. 
So  if  a  single  commodity  alone  had  decreased  in  price  it  might  be 
thought  that  for  some  special  reason  it  had  lost  value,  but  when  it  is 
found  that  the  whole  range  of  tangible  things,  including  every  product 
of  home  industry,  is  worth  less  than  it  was  ten  years  ago,  it  becomes 
evident  that  it  is  the  money  which  has  increased  in  purchasing  power 
and  not  the  commodities  that  have  decreased  in  worth. 

Speaking  of  those  who  thus  reverse  the  facts,  Sir  Guilford  R.  Moles- 
worth  said  at  the  Brussels  Conference :  "It  is  gold  who  is  the  sick  man, 
not  silver.  They  have  mistaken  the  bloated  condition  of  gold  for  a 
symptom  of  health,  whereas  it  is  the  symptom  of  a  dangerous  disease 
that  now  threatens  a  fearful  crisis.' ' 

Mr.  Allard,  honorary  director  of  the  Belgian  mint,  also  sta'ed  the 
facts  forcibly  and  tersely  at  the  Brussels  Conference:  "The  evil  is  not 
to  be  found  in  the  fall  of  silver,  but  consists  solely  in  the  appreciation 
of  gold.  It  is  not  silver  which  has  fallen  but  gold  which  has  risen." 
And  again,  •'•  Silver  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  result.  It  is  gold  which 
you  have  made  scarce  and  which  has,  therefore,  risen  in  value." 

These  matters  have  been  more  scientifically  considered  in  Europe 
than  in  this  country,  but  even  here  they  did  not  escape  prompt  obser- 
vation by  experts.  As  early  as  1877,  four  years  after  demonetization, 
the  condition  had  become  sufficiently  plain  for  the  U.  S.  Monetary 
Commission  to  declare  "Gold  has  risen  in  all  countries,  while  silver 
has  fallen  in  none." 

In  1879  Disraeli  said  in  a  public  speech:  "  Gold  is  every  day  appre- 
ciating in  value,  and  as  it  appreciates  in  value  the  lower  become 
prices."  The  article  on  "  Silver  "  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  (and 
I  quote  that  because  it  is  English  and  certainly  not  biased  in  favor  of 
bimetallism)  says:  "The  closure  of  the  mint  to  silver  has  enhanced 
the  purchasing  power  of  gold,  compared  with  either  silver  or  other 
commodities,  about  one-fourth."  This  was  written  about  1882, — say 
nine  years  after  demonetization. 

Some  time  later  Mr.  Balfour  stated  the  increase  in  the  value  of 
money  in  Great  Britain  in  15  or  16  years,  as  no  less  than  30  to  35  per 
cent. 

Sir  Wm.  Houldsworth,  one  of  the  British  Commissioners  at  Brussels, 
said:  u  A  general  fall  of  gold  money  prices  has  taken  place.  This  can 
only  be  called  an  appreciation  of  gold." 

The  three  leading  authorities  of  the  world  on  the  relative  values  of 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  81 

money  and  commodities  have  been  the  tables  of  the  London  Economist 
in  England,  and  of  Mr.  Sauerbeck  and  Prof.  Soetbeer  in  Germany. 

The  London  Economist  tables  are  based  on  the  average  value  of  22 
leading  articles  in  the  London  market;  Mr.  Sauerbeck's  were  founded 
more  broadly  on  the  prices  of  45  principal  commodities  in  Germany, 
and  Prof.  Soetbeer  took  100  different  articles  in  the  Hamburg  market 
and  added  14  others  imported  from  England,  so  as  to  cover  the  whole 
range  of  commercial  products.  Averages  such  as  these  —  including 
such  a  variety  of  articles  —  avoid  the  influences  of  temporary  fluctua- 
tions in  individual  items  by  reason  of  short  crops  or  overproduction  or 
exceptional  demand,  and  give  as  correct  a  view  of  the  purchasing 
power  of  money,  compared  with  commodities  in  general,  as  it  is  possible 
to  obtain. 

While  these  tables  have  been  prepared  entirely  independently  by  their 
learned  authors,  year  by  year,  it  is  interesting  to  see  how  nearly  they 
agree  in  their  general  results.  The  London  Economist  shows  a  decline 
in  average  prices  from  134  of  its  "  index  numbers  "  in  1873  to  95  in 
1894,  being  T3¥9¥,  or  over  29  per  cent.  The  Soetbeer  tables  make  the  de- 
cline a  little  less,  and  the  Sauerbeck  tables  somewhat  more  (32  per  cent). 
Taking  an  average  of  these,  would  make  the  present  value  of  single 
standard  money  in  Europe  about  145  compared  with  what  it  was  in 
1873,  when  the  demonetization  of  silver  started  the  upward  tendency  of 
money,  and  the  apparent  depreciation  of  commodities.  But  in  this 
country  the  change  has  been  even  greater,  as  is  obvious  to  all  from  a 
comparison  of  the  prices  of  the  great  staples  which  are  most  familiar, 
such  as  wheat  and  cotton,  on  which  the  average  reduction  has  exceeded 
50  per  cent.  That  there  is  no  present  diminution  in  this  reduction  of 
values  appears  from  the  recent  reports  of  the  London  Economist. 
Its  midsummer  report  in  1892,  to  July  1,  of  that  year,  showed  that  the 
average  apparent  fall  in  values  of  26  leading  articles  of  consumption 
had  been  7t9q-  in  2  years,  or  about  4  per  cent  per  year ;  and  the  fall  in  the 
last  preceding  6  months  had  been  2^  per  cent,  or,  at  the  rate  of  4^-  per 
cent  per  year  ;  and  the  second  6  months  of  1892  showed  no  improvement. 

The  only  apparent  exception  to  this  reduction  in  price  is  in  wages, 
and  they  have  been  kept  up  through  the  efforts  of  organizations  of  great 
power,  acting  through  strikes  and  other  methods.  Meanwhile,  how- 
ever, the  number  of  the  unemployed  has  greatly  increased,  so  that  the 
average  wages  paid  to  the  whole  working  population,  including  those 
who  are  idle  and  not  earning  anything  at  all,  are  very  considerably 
below  the  same  average  in  1873. 

The  wretched  results  of  a  continual  lowering  of  prices, —  of  a  con- 
stantly falling  market, —  are  too  obvious  to  require  illustration.  This 
is  appreciated  even  in  England.  Mr.  Grenfell,  an  ex-Governor  of  the 
Bank  of  England,  says:   "  The  fight  against  falling  prices  is  animpossi- 


82  Report  of  Proceedings 

ble  one.  Men  are  holding  on  in  hopes  for  better  times,  but  no  better 
times,  taking  trade  and  commerce  as  a  whole,  can  come  in  gold  countries, 
while  gold  appreciates.  The  pitiable  army  of  the  unemployed  must 
increase  through  no  fault  of  their  own."  And  he  speaks  of  "  the  mis- 
ery, suffering  and  despair  which  have  been  so  prevalent  during  the  last 
twenty  years,  owing  to  the  fatal  policy  of  contracting  the  currency  of 
the  world." 

Mr.  Balfour,  in  his  Manchester  speech,  said:  "  Of  all  conceivable 
systems  of  currency,  that  is  assuredly  the  worst  which  gives  you  a 
standard  steadily,  continuously,  indefinitely  appreciating,  and  which  by 
that  very  fact  throws  a  burden  upon  every  man  of  enterprise,  and  bene- 
fits no  human  being  but  the  owner  of  fixed  debts  in  gold." 

President  Andrews  aptly  refers  to  it  as  "  that  baneful,  blighting, 
deadly  fall  of  prices  which  has  affected  with  miasma  the  economic  life- 
blood  of  the  whole  world." 

But  the  monometallist  will  suggest  that  it  makes  no  real  difference  to 
a  country  whether  the  standard  of  values  be  high  or  low ;  if  it  is  high 
and  the  seller  receives  less  for  his  goods,  that  is  equaled  by  the  fact 
that  he  pays  correspondingly  less  for  what  he  buys. 

There  would  be  some  force  in  this  if  commodities  were  all  affected 
equally  and  simultaneously,  and  if  there  were  no  payments  to  be  made  in 
money  itself.  But  there  are  vast  numbers  of  contracts  and  obligations 
which  require  the  payment  of  money,  many  of  them  running  over  long 
series  of  years.  All  of  these  are  directly  affected  by  the  change 
in  the  value  of  money.  When  a  dollar  is  worth  147,  and  is  increasing 
over  2  per  cent  every  year,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  great  injustice  is  done 
by  requiring  compliance  with  such  contracts.  In  a  somewhat  similar 
case  in  Crete,  the  Turkish  government,  which  we  are  not  accustomed  to 
consider  the  most  humane,  finally  decreed,  as  the  only  available  solu- 
tion, that  payments  should  be  made  at  the  value  of  money  at  the  time 
of  making  the  contract.  But  in  a  vast  country  like  ours,  with  all  the 
varieties  of  obligation  belonging  to  a  complex  civilization,  this  would  be 
well-nigh  impossible.  The  only  practicable  means  of  securing  justice 
to  all  is  to  restore  the  money  basis  to  its  normal  standard  by  the 
remonetization  of  silver. 

Meanwhile  the  increased  value  of  money  falls  with  terrible  weight 
and  injustice  upon  the  debtor  classes.  The  debts  being  stated  in 
dollars,  and  the  dollars  having  increased  in  value  and  in  cost,  the  debts 
are  correspondingly  enlarged.  The  man  who  borrowed  a  thousand 
dollars  in  1873,  when  money  was  at  par,  now  finds  that  he  owes  one 
thousand  dollars,  each  of  which  is  worth  1^-  of  the  dollars  which 
he  borrowed.  As  the  nominal  amount  is  the  same,  it  is  simpler  to 
state  the  case  in  other  terms.  It  requires  half  as  much  more  of 
average  commodities  to  purchase  the  one  thousand  dollars  in  money 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  83 

now,  than  it  did  in  1873.  Of  some  commodities  it  requires 
almost  or  quite  double.  If  a  farmer  borrowed  a  hundred  and 
nineteen  dollars  in  1873,  he  could  repay  it  with  one  hundred 
bushels  of  wheat.  To  repay  it  now  requires  considerably  over  two 
hundred  bushels.  The  measure  of  value — the  dollar — has  greatly  in- 
creased in  value,  and  yet  he  is  compelled  by  law  to  repay  just  as  many 
of  them  as  he  received  before  they  began  to  rise.  It  is  exactly  the 
same  as  if  he  had  contracted  to  deliver  one  hundred  bushels  of  wheat 
and  Congress  had  afterwards  enacted  that  a  bushel  should  contain  64 
quarts  instead  of  32,  and  that  all  old  contracts  should  be  paid  in  the 
new  enlarged  bushel. 

Archbishop  Walsh,  of  Dublin,  sums  up  the  matter  in  few  words, 
when  he  says :  ' '  Every  one  under  an  obligation  to  make  yearly  pay- 
ments of  a  fixed  amount  of  money,  is  under  a  burden  which  is  grow- 
ing heavier  from  year  to  year."  Nor  does  this  injustice  fall  alone 
upon  those  who  are  individually  in  debt.  Every  one  is  compelled  to 
pay  some  part  of  the  general  debts  of  the  community  in  which  he  lives, 
or  of  the  corporations  to  which  he  is  subject.  The  amount  of  State, 
county,  town,  city,  village,  school-district  and  other  public  debts  is 
prodigious.  It  is  all  payable  in  dollars,  principal  and  interest.  With 
each  dollar  now  worth  $1.47,  the  tax-payer  has  to  meet  the  increased 
burden  required  to  procure  these  unjustly  enlarged  dollars.  No 
amount  of  personal  care  or  providence  or  avoidance  of  debt  can  save 
the 'American  citizen  from  this  added  incumbrance.  A  large  propor- 
tion of  our  taxation  is  not  the  result  of  current  expense,  but  of  these 
"  fixed  charges  M  required  for  paying  the  interest  on  public  debts,  and 
whatever  may  be  the  decreased  price  of  all  commodities  in  money,  the 
number  of  dollars  required  to  meet  these  fixed  charges  is  not  lessened. 
So,  again,  our  railroads  owe  enormous  amounts  in  bonds,  and  interest 
thereon  is  often  the  largest  item  in  calculating  their  expenses.  It  is 
payable  in  money,  and  money  at  its  greatly  increased  value  must  be 
had  in  order  to  liquidate  it.  The  rates  of  fare  and  freight  must  be 
made  such  as  to  meet  these  charges.  So  every  one  who  travels  or  re- 
ceives commodities  by  rail  is  forced,  without  his  consent,  and  with- 
out any  fault  or  neglect  on  his  part,  to  pay  part  of  the  extra  47  per 
cent  added  to  every  dollar  of  railroad  interest. 

Calling  the  amount  of  interest  paid  by  this  country  to  England  each 
year  $200,000,000,  the  added  cost  to  our  people  is  $94,000,000  in  our 
commodities,  for  which  we  have  to  toil ;  just  that  much  added  each  year 
to  the  burden  on  American  labor,  without  any  return,  as  the  price  on 
that  one  account  for  the  theoretical  benefit  of  a  single  gold  standard. 

HONEST   MONEY. 

We  hear  a  good  deal  about  "  honest  money"  and  an  "  honest  dol- 
lar," and  some  of  our  Eastern  friends  use  those  phrases  with  a  kind  of 


84  Report  of  Proceedings 

self-righteous  complacency,  as  if  they  were  the  sole  advocates  of  business 
integrity.     And  they  do  it,  really  believing  it  is  so. 

Let  us  see  about  this. 

Here  is  a  dollar  which  has  increased  since  1873  and  is  still  regularly 
increasing  in  value,  about  2^-  per  cent  each  year.  If  it  would  buy  10 
pounds  of  any  commodity  10  years  ago,  it  will  buy  12^  pounds  to-day. 
If  a  man  borrowed  $100  ten  years  ago,  he  has  to  pay  back  24  per  cent 
more  in  value  to-day  than  on  the  day  of  the  loan,  besides  all  interest. 
I  am  not  speaking  now  of  the  manifest  impossibility  of  doing  any 
legitimate  business  at  a  profit,  when  there  is  an  annual  loss  in  the  value 
of  whatever  goods  are  concerned  in  it,  of  2^-  as  compared  with  money. 
I  am  only  speaking  of  the  honesty  or  dishonesty  of  this  dollar  which  is 
rising  in  value  every  year.  The  most  important  quality  in  a  measure  of 
value,  is  stability.  The  measure  should  be  absolutely  unchangeable. 
If  a  person  borrows  a  sum  in  1874,  he  should  repay  the  sum,  with  the 
same  purchasing  power,  in  1894.  There  is  a  manifest  injustice  —  a 
manifest  disJionesty  —  in  requiring  the  man  who  borrowed  $100  in  1872, 
when  it  was  equivalent  to  84  bushels  of  wheat  or  550  pounds  of  cotton, 
to  pay  back  one  hundred  dollars  which  has  appreciated  to  $147  in  1894, 
and  equal  200  bushels  of  wheat  or  1,700  pounds  of  cotton. 

The  United  States  constitution  provides  that  .Congress  shall  pass  no 
law  impairing  the  obligation  of  a  contract.  Yet  Congress  by  its  legis- 
lation has  changed  evei^  contract  in  which  a  cash  payment  is  at  some 
time  to  be  made,  by  increasing  the  value  of  the  money  which  has  to  be 
used.  Suppose  that  Congress  should  decree  that  each  year  one  inch 
should  be  added  to  a  yard  measure,  every  one  would  cry  out  against 
the  dishonesty  involved  in  requiring  a  man  who  had  contracted  to  fur- 
nish 1000  yards  of  cloth,  supposing  the  yard  to  be  thirty-six  inches, 
to  fulfill  his  contract  when  the  length  was  increased  to  thirty-seven  or 
forty  inches,  without  any  change  in  compensation.  Yet  the  annual 
increase  of  two  and  four-tenths  per  cent  is  almost  exactly  an  inch  on  a 
yard.  Had  the  yard  measure  increased  exactly  as  money  has  since 
1873  (that  is  to  147)  it  would  now  reach  fifty-three  inches. 

So,  if  Congress  should  enact  that  a  bushel  should  increase  in  the  same 
ratio,  it  would  now  hold  fort}^-seven  quarts,  and  every  one  having  a 
contract  to  deliver  potatoes  or  wheat  or  apples,  by  the  bushel,  would 
be  compelled  to  deliver  that  increased  quantity. 

If  the  legislative  interference  extended  to  weight,  the  pound  would 
now  weigh  23  ounces. 

A  law  regarding  a  single  commodity  only  affects  that  one  article,  but 
one  which  changes  the  worth  of  the  measure  of  all  values,  affects  every- 
thing which  is  bought  or  sold  by  that  standard. 

Money  is  the  embodiment,  in  one  measure,  of  the  measures  of  length, 
of  capacity  and  of  weight  —  of  the  yardstick,  the  bushel  and  the  pound. 


•    Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  85 

Congress  by  the  demonetization  act  of  1873  has  accomplished  exactly 
what  separate  acts  providing  for  the  annual  enlargement  of  each  kind 
of  measure  would  have  done ;  the  only  difference  is  that  the  effect  was 
so  concealed  that  the  indignation  of  the  people  was  not  immediately 
aroused. 

And  yet  the  increased  measure  of  all  values,  which  has  enlarged 
every  debt  and  obligation  and  contract,  without  the  consent  of  the 
debtor  and  without  any  compensation,  is  called  "  an  honest  dollar," 
and  every  attempt  to  preserve  its  value  without  change  is  pronounced 
an  endeavor  to  inflate  the  currency  and  M  deluge  the  country  with  cheap 
money."  Naturally  the  creditor  classes,  who  hold  the  bonds  and  mort- 
gages and  securities,  and  derive  a  fixed  number  of  dollars  annually 
from  them,  desire  the  dearest  possible  money ;  the  higher  it  ascends  in 
its  purchasing  power,  the  more  flagrantly  it  becomes  a  "  dishonest 
dollar,"  the  more  profitable  it  is  to  them;  and  controlling,  as  they  do, 
the  banks  and  financial  institutions  and  the  press  of  the  great  cities, 
they  do  not  find  it  difficult  to  cause  the  unthinking  to  believe  that  their 
selfish  scheme  of  contraction  is  a  patriotic  effort  to  preserve  the  public 
credit. 

There  is  another  fallacy  that  it  may  be  well  to  explode  by  a  few 
facts. 

Quite  frequently  we  hear  the  statement  from  some  one  who  thinks 
that  his  words  contain  the  wisdom  of  the  ages,  that  the  value  of  every 
commodity  is  what  it  costs  to  produce,  and  that,  consequently,  the 
real  value  of  silver  is  what  it  costs  to  extract. 

Disregarding  for  a  moment  the  absurdity  of  this  proposition  in 
regard  to  a  mone}'  metal,  which  is  a  measure  of  value,  let  us  see  what 
it  would  mean  if  it  were  in  any  sense  true,  if,  for  instance,  silver  were 
simply  a  commodity. 

The  brilliant  author  of  the  statement  usually  follows  it  up  by  saying 
"  And  in  such  a  mine  "  —  naming  some  one  of  the  most  famous  pro- 
ducers of  the  time  then  in  the  height  of  its  phenomenal  success  —  "  it 
only  costs  so  many  cents  —  20  or  30  or  40  perhaps,  — :  to  mine  an  ounce 
of  silver."  Therefore,  he  argues,  silver  in  general  is  worth  20  or  30 
or  40  cents  an  ounce.  Such  an  extraordinary  logician  is  only  fit  to  be 
the  victim  of  the  next  mine  speculator  who  travels  his  way,  or  to  be  an 
early  victim  of  the  fool- killer. 

On  the  same  principle,  if  a  man  found  a  nugget  of  gold  weighing  5 
pounds,  and  carried  it  home,  occupying  a  day  in  the  operation,  count- 
ing his  time  as  worth  $2.50,  that  gold  would  be  worth  half  a  dollar 
pound. 

If  the  principle  had  any  truth  in  it,  it  would  be  the  average  cost  of 
production  which  would  be  the  criterion,  not  the  extreme  either  of 
cheapness  or  expense. 


86  Report  of  Proceedings 

As  matter  of  fact,  both  gold  and  silver  —  taking  the  whole  produc- 
tion and  expense  —  cost  more  to  produce  than  they  are  worth.  An 
official  inquiry  as  to  the  cost  of  producing  silver  a  few  years  since, 
showed  the  average  expense  to  be  nearer  $2  than  $1  per  ounce ;  and  it 
is  not  probable  that  nearly  all  the  outlay  was  ascertained,  as  men  are 
not  generally  anxious  to  publish  their  failures. 

Within  20  miles  of  my  own  home  is  a  mining  camp,  in  which  a  few 
years  ago,  more  than  1,400  "locations"  were  made.  On  over  500 
claims  considerable  work  was  done,  ranging  from  a  few  hundred  dol- 
lars to  many  thousands  —  how  many  hundreds  of  thousands  in  the 
aggregate,  no  one  can  say.  Unfortunately  not  a  single  mine  ever 
paid  expenses,  and  it  is  certainly  not  an  overestimate  to  say  that  every 
ounce  of  silver  obtained  there  cost  $100.  The  same  is  the  case  with 
scores  of  deserted  camps  all  through  the  Rocky  Mountain  region.  Yet 
would  any  one  be  idiotic  enough  to  say  that  silver  was  worth  $100  an 
ounce  because  that  was  the  cost  of  production? 

A  friend  of  mine  recently  counted  up  his  expenditure  in  silver  min- 
ing in  various  localities  and  found  it  to  exceed  $6,500.  He  had  suc- 
ceeded in  extracting  something  less  than  3  ounces  of  metal.  But  that 
is  no  reason  to  say  that  silver  is  worth  $2200  an  ounce. 

Within  a  month  a  well-known  man  of  wealth  in  New  York  informed 
me  that  he  had  made  26  investments  in  mining  and  had  never  received 
a  cent  of  return.  If  I  should  name  him  you  would  agree  that  the  26 
investments  probably  aggregated  over,  rather  than  under,  $100,000. 
Suppose  he  had  enjoyed  somewhat  better  success  and  had  succeeded 
in  obtaining  an  ounce  of  gold  or  silver,  would  that  be  reason  to  say 
that  either  metal  was  worth  $100,000  an  ounce,  because  that  particular 
ounce  cost  that  much?  Even  taking  the  bonanza  mine  referred  to  by 
our  brilliant  friend,  in  which  silver  is  being  produced  say  at  30  cents 
an  ounce ;  if  we  go  through  its  history,  see  the  time  and  money  spent  in 
prospecting,  in  development  work,  in  all  the  numberless  difficulties  to 
be  overcome  before  success  was  achieved,  and  then  watch  its  future 
when  the  rich  ore  is  exhausted  or  the  vein  is  lost,  or  the  mine  is 
flooded,  or  the  mineral  becomes  refractory,  when  new  machinery  and 
processes  have  to  be  introduced,  and  expensive  dead  work  is  continued 
in  the  hope. of  regaining  the  old  richness,  we  will  find  that,  even  then-, 
the  average  cost  from  beginning  to  end  is  vastly  greater  than  in  the 
heyday  of  phenomenal  success. 

Then  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  facts  in  regard  to  gold  are  ex- 
actly the  same  as  with  silver ;  only  emphasized,  because  a  few  pounds 
of  gold  accidentally  found  run  into  the  thousands  much  faster  than  the 
white  metal.  In  the  early  days  of  newly  found  placers  in  California 
and  Australia,  when  the  accumulation  of  ages  was  washed  out  in  a  year, 
two  or  three  ounces  a  day  was  nothing  unusual  and  sometimes  a  for- 


Trans -Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  87 

tune  was  made  between  dawn  and  night.  But  no  one  thought  that  the 
value  of  the  product,  whether  great  or  small,  was  to  be  measured  by 
the  value  of  the  day's  wages.  A  friend  of  mine  last  summer  did  a  little 
placer  mining  on  both  sides  of  a  stream,  and  found  that  on  one  side  it 
cost  about  sixty  cents  to  extract  a  penny  weight  .of  gold  and  on  the  other, 
about  $2.00.  Yet  it  would  be  absurd  to  say  that  the  gold  obtained 
varied  to  that  extent  in  value. 

The  fact  is,  that,  except  in  the  case  of  newly  discovered  regions,  the 
production  of  the  precious  metals  depends  on  their  value,  not  their 
value  on  the  production.  And  it  is  also  true,  as  before  stated,  that 
with  the  same  exception,  both  gold  and  silver,  taking  the  whole  product 
of  each,  cost  more  to  produce  than  they  are  worth  ;  and  we  may  con- 
clude that  thus  it  will  be  as  long  as  the  speculative  trait  in  human 
nature  remains  unchanged.  If  gold  is  worth  $20  an  ounce,  every 
known  place  where  it  can  be  produced  for  that  sum  will  be  worked,  and 
in  addition  a  multitude  of  people  will  expend  money  in  attempts  which 
prove  failures,  thus  largely  enhancing  the  average  cost  of  the  metal 
obtained.     And  it  is  exactly  the  same  as  to  silver. 

But  I  have  spent  too  much  time  on  this  illogical  idea  that  the  value 
of  a  money  metal  should  be  its  cost  of  production,  and  vary  as  that 
varies.  What  is  needed  in  a  standard  of  value  is  stability.  The  man 
who  incurs  a  debt  to-day,  measured  in  dollars,  should  pay  it,  both  in 
justice  to  himself  and  his  creditor,  in  dollars  of  the  same  value.  Hence 
the  value  of  money,  and  the  number  of  ounces  of  a  money  metal  to  be 
counted  as  a  given  value  are  matters  of  legislation,  not  of  trade. 

As  a  rule  the  matter  of  large  or  small  supply  has  nothing  to  do  with 
that  fixed  value.  It  is  worth  remarking  that  so  far  from  a  large  supply 
of  one  or  the  other  metal  being  made  to  reduce  its  value,  in  a  number 
of  cases,  where  dominant  nations  looked  to  their  own  interests,  exactly 
the  reverse  was  the  case. 

Look  in  your  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  and  you  will  see  that  the 
Romans,  when  the  supply  of  gold  from  Dacia  and  Spain  fell  off,  raised  the 
legal  value  of  silver  from  one-thirteenth  to  one-tenth  that  of  gold  ;  rais- 
ing, you  observe,  the  more  plentiful  metal,  so  as  to  have  a  larger  supply 
of  money.  The  following  extracts  cover  more  modern  changes:  "In 
Spain  the  ratio  was  10J.  When  America  was  plundered  the  first  fruits 
were  gold,  not  silver,  whereupon  Spain  in  1546  raised  the  legal  value 
of  gold  to  13J,  and  the  rest  of  the  world  was  obliged  to  acquiesce. 
During  the  following  century  Portugal  obtained  such  immense  quantities 
of  gold  from  the  East  Indies,  Japan  and  Brazil,  that  her  imports  ex- 
ceeded £3,000,000  a  year.  Portugal  now  governed  the  ratio  and  in 
1688  raised  the  value  of  gold  to  sixteen  times  that  of  silver.  A  cen- 
tury later  Spain  again  controlled,  and  as  her  colonial  product  was  now 

mostly  silver,  raised  its  value  in  1775  from  ^  to  JL  for  the  Peninsula. 

log- 


88  _       Report  of  Proceedings 

In  every  one  of  these  cases  the  dominant  power  raised  the  value  of 
the  metal  of  which  it  had  the  most  abundant  supply,  exactly  opposite  to 
the  theory  of  the  anti-silver  men  that  a  large  production  requires  a 
diminution  in  value ;  and  it  will  also  be  observed  that  the  value  was 
always  fixed  by  edict  and  not  by  natural  law. 

The  patriotism  shown  by  the  governments  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  in 
obtaining  all  the  advantages  possible  for  their  own  people  and  products, 
compares  very  favorably  with  the  action  of  our  own,  which  struck 
down  silver  when  we  were  its  largest  producers,  and,  when  compelled  by 
law  to  purchase  a  certain  amount  each  month,  labored  incessantly  to 
force  down  the  price,  when  each  cent  of  reduction,  per  ounce,  meant 
the  loss  of  millions  of  dollars  to  our  agricultural  and  business  com- 
munity. 

No  better  illustration  of  the  fact  that  the  value  of  the  two  money 
metals  is  matter  of  legislation  and  not  of  supply,  can  be  found  than  in 
the  result  of  the  uniform  ratio  of  1  to  15J  preserved  in  France  from 
1803  to  1873,  a  period  of  70  years.  During  this  time  the  fluctuations 
of  production  of  the  precious  metals  were  very  great.     From  1803  to 

1820  the  average  annual  yield  of  gold  in  the  whole  world  was  $9,710,- 
500,  of  silver  $36,847,500  ;  or  about  4  of  silver  to  one  of  gold.     From 

1821  to  1840  it  was  $11,466,000  of  gold  and  $21,964,000  of  silver;  or 
about  2  of  silver  to  1  of  gold.  From  1841  to  1860  it  was  $85,150,- 
000  of  gold  and  $34,826,500  of  silver;  about  2J  of  gold  to  1  of  silver; 
and  from  1861  to  1873,  the  annual  gold  product  was  $117,991,850, 
silver  $68,043,900  ;  nearly  2  of  gold  to  1  of  silver.  If  we  take  shorter 
periods,  the  divergences  are  even  greater.  The  coinage  of  France  pre- 
sents still  more  extraordinary  contrasts.  From  1821  to  1847  the  value 
of  silver  coined  was  more  than  9  times  that  of  gold ;  from  1853  to  1866 
that  of  gold  exceeded  the  silver  no  less  than  34  times. 

Yet  all  these  changes  in  production  and  coinage  did  not  affect  values 
one  iota.  The  French  ratio  of  15J  to  1  fixed  the  value  of  the  two 
money  metals  for  all  of  Europe  and  by  the  existence  of  the  bimetallic 
system  all  the  dangers  that  would  otherwise  have  been  incurred  from 
rapid  changes  in  prices  were  averted,  and  the  French  people  became 
the  richest  and  with  least  pauperism  of  any  in  the  world. 

And  yet  the  idea  has  been  industriously  inculcated  by  all  the  gold 
standard  press  of  the  East,  that  silver  had  depreciated  because  it  had 
become  so  abundant  by  overproduction  that  it  was  against  natural  law 
to  keep  up  its  price,  and  that  the  bimetallic  agitation  was  simply 
because  the  West  desired  "  cheap  money,"  a  depreciated  currency, 
with  which  to  pay  its  debts.  This  kind  of  talk  has  a  certain  plausibility 
and  is  apt  to  affect  the  uninformed  who  confuse  commodities  with 
measures  of  value  and  do  not  know  that  the  latter  are  necessarily  crea- 
tions of  law  in  order  to  insure  stability.     But  when  you  meet  it  by  the 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  89 

single  fact  that  at  the  moment  when  Congress  demonetized  silver  in 
1873,  silver  itself  was  worth  more  than  par  at  the  ratio  of  16  to  1,  that 
a  silver  dollar  was  worth  at  least  $1.02 J-,  and  a  like  weight  of  silver  was 
worth  that  sum  anywhere,  because  it  could  be  coined  into  dollars  at 
will,  you  destroy  in  a  moment  all  that  fallacy.  Ernest  Seyd  said  in  his 
letter  to  Sam'l  Hooper,  in  1872,  "  The  cause  of  the  disappearance  of  the 
American  dollar  from  circulation,  is  due  to  the  original  error  of  there 
being  too  much  silver  in  the  piece. "  It  is  then  plain  that  the  large  pro- 
duction of  silver  had  not  the  slightest  effect  on  its  value  so  long  as  the 
ancient  law  of  free  coinage  existed.  The  depreciation  of  the  metal  was 
solely  the  result  of  legislation,  not  of  supply.  And  a  notable  illustra- 
tion of  the  same  fact  was  presented  only  a  year  ago,  when  the  demonetiz- 
ation in  India  caused  an  immediate  fall  in  the  value  of  silver.  At  that 
very  time  there  was  a  diminution  in  the  product,  but  the  price  was  not 
affected  by  that,  but  solely  by  the  legislation. 

Perhaps  for  some  it  may  be  well  to  add  the  force  of  an  official  En- 
glish opinion  on  the  subject,  the  more  notable  as  England  is  the  leader 
in  gold  standard  ideas.  The  report  of  the  British  Royal  Commission 
on  Gold  and  Silver,  made  in  1886,  says,  speaking  of  the  stability  of 
the  double  standard  during  all  the  fluctuations  of  production  during 
the  century,  "  so  long  as  the  bimetallic  system  was  in  force,  we  think 
that,  notwithstanding  the  changes  in  the  production  and  use  of  the 
precious  metals,  it  kept  the  market  price  of  silver  approximately  steady 
at  a  ratio  fixed  by  law." 

Another  point  is  worthy  of  notice.  That  so  far  as  Europe  is  con- 
cerned, it  was  the  steadfast  bimetallism  of  one  single  country,  France, 
which  preserved  the  stability  of  the  ratio  through  seventy  years  of 
fluctuation  including  the  violent  change  in  relative  production  brought 
about  by  the  gold  discoveries  in  California  and  Australia.  If  France 
could  do  this,  single-handed,  why  not  the  United  States? 

So  far  from  having  been  depressed  by  overproduction  the  surprising 
point  is,  that  silver  has  not  fallen  in  gold  value  more  than  it  has,  from 
other  causes.  For  not  only  is  it  affected  by  the  rise  in  the  value  of 
gold  money,  in  which  its  value  is  counted,  just  as  other  property  is,  but 
its  value  is  naturally  greatly  reduced  by  having  its  principal  use  sud- 
denly prohibited  by  Act  of  Congress. 

Let  us  take  a  very  simple  illustration,  which  every  one  can  under- 
stand as  to  this  latter  point. 

The  two  great  cereal  articles  of  food  are  corn  and  wheat.  The  prin- 
cipal use  of  each  is  to  be  ground  into  bread  stuffs,  yet  each  has  a  small 
percentage  of  use  for  other  purposes.  A  certain  fraction  of  the  corn, 
for  example,  is  used  for  distillation.  Now  let  us  suppose  that  a  gigantic 
syndicate  bought  up  all  the  wheat  in  the  country  and  that  having  done 
this,  in  order  to  enhance  its  value,  they  should  influence  Congress  to 


90  Report  of  Proceedings 

pass  a  law  forbidding  any  grinding  of  corn  into  meal  or  its  use  in  any- 
way as  food.  What  would  be  the  result?  It  is  obvious  that  with  the 
whole  food  demand,  previously  divided  between  the  two  great  products, 
thrown  exclusively  upon  wheat,  its  price  would  be  immediately  enhanced 
and  would  continue  to  increase  as  it  became  more  and  more  scarce. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  great  use  for  corn  having  been  extinguished, 
the  only  use  remaining  would  not  require  20  per  cent  of  the  crop,  and 
the  price  would  descend  with  a  rush  as  each  owner  of  corn  tried  to 
secure  a  sale,  by  lower  and  lower  offers,  of  his  own  stock,  as  part  of 
the  20  per  cent  needed  for  distillation. 

One  would  certainly  think  that  the  speculators  and  the  Congress, 
which  had  created  this  great  monopoly  and  made  their  selfish  wishes 
law,  would  be  held  in  detestation  by  the  whole  people  and  their  names 
made  subjects  of  execration  forever. 

But  suppose  on  the  contrary,  that  when  the  owners  of  corn  com- 
plained that  what  was  before  worth  50  cents  a  bushel  would  now  only 
bring  20  cents  and  asked  that  the  legislation  which  thus  deprived  it 
of  value  should  be  repealed  and  the  immemorial  and  natural  use  of 
corn  as  a  food  material  be  restored  so  that  it  would  recover  its  former 
price,  they  were  to  be  met  by  the  cry  that  this  was  a  most  monstrous  and 
unjust  proposition  because  every  one  could  see  that  corn  was  only  worth 
20  cents  as  it  was  actually  selling  for  that  price  in  the  market,  and  the 
real  trouble  was  that  the  production  was  too  much  for  the  demand ; 
and  for  its  raisers  to  ask  congressional  action  was  a  piece  of  supreme 
assurance. 

And  suppose  that  when  the  great  body  of  the  people  who  were  com- 
pelled to  pay  double  value  for  wheat,  because  it  was  the  only  cereal 
product  allowed  to  be  eaten,  arose  and  demanded  that  their  ancient 
right  to  use  corn  should  be  restored,  they  should  be  told  by  national 
leaders  and  by  the  press  that  wheat  was  the  only  honest  food,  that  the 
use  of  corn  had  always  been  a  mistake  and  that  its  deleterious  effects 
were  now  so  well  known  that  no  one  except  those  selfishly  engaged  in 
its  culture,  or  who  dishonestly  wished  to  cheapen  food,  would  think  of 
asking  for  its  restoration. 

This  appears  to  be  as  near  a  parallel  to  the  congressional  action  on 
the  silver  question  as  can  be  suggested  except  that  the  latter  is  much 
more  disastrous  and  far-reaching  in  its  consequences  because  it  has 
enhanced  the  value,  not  of  a  simple  commodity  like  wheat,  but  of  gold 
standard  mone}7-,  which  is  the  only  legal  measure  of  value  of  every- 
thing else. 

Gold  and  silver  were  the  two  money  metals  from  the  beginning  of 
civilization.  The  great  use  of  each  was  for  the  purpose  of  coinage. 
Silver  had  a  comparatively  small  use  in  the  manufactures  and  arts  just 
as  corn  had  for  distillation.     Now,  suppose  a  certain  syndicate,  having 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  91 

obtained  control  of  most  of  the  gold  of  the  world,  actual  and  prospect- 
ive, by  means  of  holding  interest-bearing  indebtedness,  should  be  able 
to  influence  Congress  to  demonetize  silver.  The  twoTesults  are  obvious. 
Gold,  which  is  the  only  money  metal  left,  increases  in  value,  as  the 
burden  of  pecuniary  business  of  the  world,  previously  divided  between 
the  two  metals  equally,  falls  upon  the  one  alone ;  and  silver,  with  its 
great  use  destroyed,  and  only  the  smaller  one  for  manufacturing 
remaining,  of  course  rapidly  falls. 

Then,  when  the  owners  of  silver  a3k  that  the  legislation  which  caused 
this  condition  shall  be  repealed  and  the  immemorial  and  natural  use  of 
silver  as  a  money  metal  be  restored  so  that  it  will  recover  its  proper 
value,  they  are  met  with  the  same  cry  that  this  is  a  most  monstrous  and 
unjust  proposition  because  every  one  can  see  that  silver  is  worth  only 
60  cents  an  ounce,  as  it  is  actually  selling  for  that  in  the  market, 
and  the  trouble  is  that  the  production  is  too  great  for  the  demand ;  and 
for  its  producers  to  ask  congressional  action  is  a  piece  of  supreme 
assurance. 

And  when  the  great  body  of  the  people,  who  are  compelled  to  pay 
double  value  for  money,  because  it  is  now  confined  to  gold,  arise  and 
demand  that  their  ancient  right  to  coin  and  use  silver  be  restored,  they 
are  told  by  national  leaders  and  by  the  press  that  gold  is  the  only 
honest  money,  that  the  use  of  a  double  standard  had  always  been  a 
mistake,  and  that  its  deleterious  effects  are  now  so  well  known  that  no 
one  except  selfish  silver  miners  or  those  who  dishonestly  want  "  cheap 
money  "  would  think  of  asking  for  its  restoration. 

And  our  people  at  the  East,  reasonable  and  intelligent  about  other 
things,  seem  to  overlook  the  fact  that  it  is  only  restoration  to  the  normal 
and  immemorial  condition  of  things  that  is  asked,  —  not  anything  new ; 
that  the  "supreme  assurance' ■  is  on  the  part  of  those  who  ask  Con- 
gress to  reverse  the  action  of  all  the  ages  and  demonetize  silver  and 
thus  deprive  it  of  its  legitimate  use,  not  of  those  who  simply  ask 
that  that  most  unjust  as  well  as  disastrous  piece  of  legislation  be 
repealed. 

No  doubt  when  the  wheat  syndicate  destroys  by  legislation  the  use 
of  corn  for  food,  it  will  have  power  enough  to  control  the  press  of  a 
whole  section  and  to  obtain  a  constant  repetition  of  the  statement  that 
corn  was  never  a  fit  article  for  human  nutrition,  that  it  had  been 
the  fruitful  source  of  all  diseases  so  long  as  permitted  to  be 
eaten  and  that  it  was  a  benevolent  act  on  the  part  of  the  wheat 
Shylocks  to  save  the  people  from  a  continuance  of  such  dangers  to 
life  and  health ;  and  the  good  people  of  that  section  will  consequently 
believe  that  their  oppressors  are  a  set  of  unselfish  angels,  nobly  devot- 
ing themselves  to  the  saving  of  the  nation  from  the  dishonest  endeavors 
of  the  wicked  owners  of  unwholesome  corn. 


92  Report  of  Proceedings 

AMERICAN    PRODUCT. 

One  other  point  I  wish  to  speak  of,  because  there  is  a  plausibility 
about  it,  which  at  first  sight  has  gained  the  acceptance  of  many  excel- 
lent citizens.  Yet  the  proposition  is  really  so  illogical  that  its  support- 
ers cannot  have  given  it  much  consideration  or  else  have  not  grasped 
the  fundamental  principles  involved  in  this  matter.  I  refe'r  to  the 
proposition  to  have  "  free  coinage  of  the  American  product  "  of  silver, 
only. 

What  does  Free  Coinage  mean?  It  means  the  system  which  was 
established  at  the  foundation  of  our  Government  and  continued  until 
1873,  which  provided  that  every  one  having  gold  or  silver  could  take  it 
to  the  mint  and  have  it  melted  and  stamped  into  coin,  or  receive  its 
equivalent  weight  in  money  already  coined.  Thus,  as  it  stood  for 
many  years  prior  to  1873,  any  one  having  gold  received  one  dollar  for 
each  23T2rr2o-  grains ;  or,  if  having  silver,  received  one  dollar  for  each 
371J  grains.  That  was  free  and  unlimited  coinage  at  the  ratio  of  16 
to  1.  The  consequence  was  that  every  ounce  of  gold  in  the  world  was 
worth  $20.68  and  every  ounce  of  silver  was  worth  $1.29,  less  the 
expense  of  transmitting  it  to  the  mill ;  because  it  could  at  any  time  be 
converted  into  coin  at  those  rates.  The  amount  actually  coined  was 
comparatively  small,  for  the  value  by  weight  was  thus  absolutely  fixed 
and  determined  by  law. 

So  it  must  always  be  when  there  is  free  and  unlimited  coinage.  So  it 
is  still  as  to  gold,  in  this  country,  and  will  be  as  to  silver  as  soon  as 
the  old  law  is  restored.  But  the  moment  there  is  the  slightest  limitation, 
so  that  owners  may  feel  uncertainty  as  to  the  coinage  of  their  own 
metal,  there  is  a  rush  to  the  mint  in  order  to  secure  the  stamp  of  the 
government. 

To  illustrate,  let  us  suppose  that  the  amount  of  available  uncoined 
gold  in  each  year  is  $30,000,000.  So  long  as  the  law  provides,  as  at 
present,  for  its  unlimited  coinage,  the  metal  has  its  perfect  value  by 
weight  wherever  it  is.  But  let  the  law  provide  that  $29,000,000  and  no 
more  shall  be  coined  every  year,  and  the  fear  that  any  particular  lot  of 
gold  may  be  among  the  surplus  million  will  depress  the  price  and  every 
owner  will  hasten  to  carry  his  metal  to  the  mint.  The  result  would  be 
instability  of  value  and  a  far  larger  actual  coinage  than  under  an 
unlimited  law  by  which  the  gold  is  sure  to  be  accepted  whenever  pre- 
sented. The  facts  are  exactly  the  same  as  to  silver.  So  long  as  we 
had  free  coinage  there  was  no  rush  of  metal  to  the  mint  for  it  was  sure 
of  acceptance  at  any  time  and  was  therefore  worth  as  much  in  the  bar 
as  in  the  coin. 

If  we  had  a  law  for  the  free  coinage  of  the  American  product  only, 
at  the  old  valuation  of  $1.29  to  the  ounce,  no  one  could  determine,  by 


Trans  ^Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  93 

looking  at  a  bar  or  other  form  of  the  metal,  whether  it  was  American 
and  consequently  entitled  to  coinage,  or  not.  There  would  always  be 
a  doubt  and  a  fear  of  rejection  and  hence  the  metal  would  not  com- 
mand its  full  coin  value.  There  would  be  a  rush  of  silver  to  the  mint 
in  order  to  secure  the  coveted  stamp  which  alone  could  remove  all 
doubt. 

With  a  law  for  unlimited  coinage  all  the  silver  in  the  world  would 
instantly  be  worth  its  weight  in  U.  S.  coin  less  the  cost  of  transporta- 
tion, and  having  that  value  in  its  uncoined  condition  there  would  be  no 
inducement  to  undertake  the  cost  and  risk  of  sending  it  to  our  mint. 
But  if  there  were  a  limitation  either  of  amount  or  as  to  place  of  origin, 
we  should  have  two  classes  of  silver,  entirely  different  in  value,  one 
coined  and  the  other  uncoined.  There  would  be  a  continual  struggle 
to  secure  coinage,  lawfully  or  unlawfully,  for  the  uncoined  metal,  and 
a  multitude  of  difficulties  and  contentions  would  ensue. 

The  whole  principle  underlying  the  stable  and  unvarying  values  of 
the  precious  metals  as  measures  of  commercial  exchange,  requires  an 
absolutely  free  and  unlimited  right  of  coinage  at  a  fixed  ratio.  Any 
limitation  whatever  destroys  uniformity,  decreases  value  and  excites 
distrust. 

An  objection  often  urged  to  the  restoration  of  the  free  coinage  of 
silver  as  it  existed  before  1873  at  the  ratio  of  16  to  1,  without  concurrent 
action  by  England  and  other  nations,  is  that  this  country  will  be  imme- 
diately inundated  with  silver  from  Europe;  that  it  will  become  the 
M  Dumping  Ground  "  for  the  surplus  silver  of  that  continent.  At  first 
sight,  this  idea  is  somewhat  plausible,  but  a  very  little  investigation 
shows  that  it  has  no  foundation.  There  are  two  reasons  for  this  con- 
clusion, either  of  which  would  be  sufficient. 

First.  There  is  no  surplus  silver  in  any  country  of  Europe.  Their 
silver  is  in  the  shape  of  coin  and  in  no  part  of  it  is  the  amount  greater 
than  that  required  by  the  people  themselves. 

Secondly.  So  long  as  our  ratio  is  16  to  1,  silver  can  only  be  exported 
from  Europe  to  the  United  States  at  a  loss.  Their  ratio  is  15 J  to  1. 
In  other  words  15J  ounces  of  silver  coin  in  Europe  are  worth  one  ounce 
of  gold  coin,  but  if  brought  to  the  United  States  another  half  ounce 
must  be  added  to  purchase  the  same  amount  of  gold.  This  means  a 
loss  of  ■£%  or  a  little  over  3  per  cent  on  every  transaction,  besides  the 
expense  of  transporting  the  silver  across  .the  ocean.  This  matter  has 
been  very  thoroughly  discussed  and  the  "Dumping  Ground  "  theory 
effectually  set  at  rest  by  various  authors,  but  this  brief  statement 
shows  how  unfounded  it  was. 

While  the  United  States  at  this  moment  is  feeling  the  effect  of 
demonetization  most  severely,  many  parts  of  Europe  are  suffering 
almost  as  greatly.     In  England  the  small  land-owners  were  practically 


94  Report  of  Proceedings 

swept  out  of  existence  in  less  than  20  years  after  the  demonetization  of 
1816.  Archbishop  Walsh  has  graphically  portrayed  the  condition  of 
Ireland  arising  from  the  single  gold  standard.  And  Prof.  Suess,  of 
the  Austrian  Parliament,  perhaps  the  greatest  continental  authority  on 
this  subject,  ends  his  recent  great  work  with  these  significant  words: — 

"  The  question  is  no  longer  whether  silver  will  again  become  a  full 
value  coinage  metal  over  the  whole  earth,  but  what  are  to  be  the  trials 
through  which  Europe  is  to  pass  to  gain  that  goal." 

Such  are  some  of  the  facts  in  this  case,  plainly  stated.  In  their 
presentation  I  have  indulged  in  no  rhetoric  and  have  used  no  expres- 
sions to  arouse  sympathy  for  the  sufferings  of  the  masses  of  the  people 
or  indignation  at  the  selfishness  of  their  oppressors. 

The  need  of  the  hour  is  such  an  awakening  of  interest  in  this  ques- 
tion in  the  East  as  will  cause  inquiry  and  investigation  and  independence 
of  thought. 

We  are  one  nation,  our  interests  are  identical;  that  which  affects 
one  section,  affects  all;  and  in  this  matter  the  conditions  are  practically 
the  same,  East  and  West,  North  and  South.  The  idea  studiously 
inculcated  in  the  East  that  this  is  a  western  matter  and  one  in  which  the 
silver  producing  States  are  principally  interested,  is  utterly  deceptive, 
as  I  have  endeavored  to  show.  The  farmer  of  New  York  or  Ohio  is 
interested  precisely  as  is  his  brother  in  Iowa  or  Kansas.  The  man  who 
owes  a  mortgage  in  Massachusetts  feels  the  increasing  pressure  of  the 
obligation  as  strongly  as  his  fellow-debtor  of  Missouri  or  Dakota.  The 
increasing  number  of  foreclosures,  the  lengthened  list  of  sales  for 
unpaid  taxes,  the  armies  of  the  underpaid  and  unemployed,  tell  the 
same  story  everywhere. 

On  theory  it  was  easy  to  say  what  the  results  of  demonetization  must 
be ;  actual  experience  is  showing  what  they  are.  A  steady  decrease 
in  all  property  values  and  a  steady  increase  in  the  burden  of  all  fixed 
charges,  can  bring  but  one  result.  The  cry  of  the  suffering  goes  up 
to  heaven.  The  most  despairing  and  the  most  touching  of  their 
prayers  are  never  heard  on  earth,  for  they  come  from  those  who  suffer 
in  silence.  The  aggregate  of  human  misery  caused  by  this  grinding 
of  the  upper  and  nether  millstones  is  a  thing  to  make  angels  weep. 

We  live  in  the  most  favored  of  all  lands.  God  has  given  us  a  goodly 
heritage.  The  natural  resources  of  our  country  should  make  it  one  of 
universal  prosperity  and  happiness.  There  is  no  reason  for  suffering 
and  want.  Its  causes  are  purely  artificial.  By  the  selfishness  of  man 
the  good  gifts  of  Providence  turn  to  ashes  in  our  hands ;  the  food  is 
taken  from  the  mouths  of  the  weak  and  the  defenseless. 

No  judgment  from  on  high  has  been  visited  upon  this  people ; 
neither  war,  nor  famine,  nor  pestilence  has  been  suffered  to  afflict  us. 

Yet  in  the  midst  of  physicial  health  the  nation  is  sick:     In  the  midst 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  95 

of  wealth  there  is  poverty,  and  in  a  land  of  plenty  there   is  suffering 
and  starvation. 

God  grant  us  all  the  will  and  the  wisdom  to  seek  the  causes  of  these 
things,  and  having  found  them  to  apply  the  remedy  (great  applause). 

Adjourned  to  7 :  30  p.  m.  Tuesday  evening. 


Tuesday  Evening  Session. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  at  7:45  p.  m.  by  Senator  Wm. 
Johnston,  of  California. 

Senator  Johnston:  In  the  absence  of  our  worthy  President  he  has 
asked  me  to  preside.  Our  discussion  this  evening  will  be  upon  the  silver 
question,  and  the  meeting  will  now  come  to  order.  I  am  informed  that 
this  is  an  early  hour  for  St.  Louis  people  to  gather.  We  western  peo- 
ple, when  we  say  7:  30,  mean  7:  30  and  not  8  o'clock,  but  I  find  it 
means  8  o'clock  in. St.  Louis.  We  do  not  blame  you  for  being  a  little 
late  on  this  occasion,  for  it  is  the  custom. 

I  have  the  honor  and  the  pleasure  of  introducing  to  you  Col.  Geo.  E. 
Leighton,  of  St.  Louis,  who  will  address  you  upon  the  all  important 
money  question  of  the  day. 

ADDRESS    OF    COL.  LEIGHTON  —  WHY  WE  OPPOSE  FREE  COINAGE. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen :  I  wish  to  express  my  extreme  grati- 
fication for  this  very  generous  reception.  The  fact  that  such  an  audi- 
ence should  assemble  to  listen  to  a  discussion  of  this  somewhat  dry 
and  technical  character,  confirms  my  belief  in  its  importance  to  the 
country,  and  in  the  earnest  interest  which  you  have  as  citizens,  in  its 
wise  and  proper  solution.  I  think  there  are  times  when  the  thought 
comes  to  all  of  us,  that  we  wish  not  especially  to  be  confirmed  in  our 
present  views  or  to  have  them  changed,  but  that  we  wish  to  have  more 
light — to  know  Ihe  whole  truth,  whether  in  accord  with  our  present 
views  or  not,  and  that  at  the  present  time  there  are  few  public  questions 
npon  which  this  desire  is  more  positive  and  pronounced  than  upon  the 
question  which  is  now  under  discussion  by  the  Congress. 

I  wish  at  the  outset  to  express  my  obligation  to  Gov.  Prince  of  New 
Mexico  for  the  very  clear,  able  and  dignified  presentation  to  the  Con- 
gress of  the  cause  of  silver  to  which  we  have  listened.  I  can  not  say 
that  it  was  convincing,  for  I  shall  have  occasion  to-night  to  differ  with 
him  in  his  premises,  his  logic,  and  his  conclusions.  I  cannot  agree 
with  him  that  the  only  light  on  this  subject  pervades  the 
West,    or    that    the     East,     as    he     has    told    us,     is     enshrouded 


96  Report  of  Proceedings 

in  the  densest  ignorance  from  the  President  all  the  way- 
down,  for  I  believe  that  his  view  of  the  question  and  the  view 
of  the  silver  States  is  perhaps  just  a  little  narrow,  and  possibly  just  a 
little  locally  selfish.  By  the  East,  I  presume  he  means  those  who  live 
«ast  of  a  meridian  which  is  continually  getting  further  west,  and  which 
now  includes  the  entire  range  of  States  from  Minnesota  to  the  Gulf  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  and  who  are  rapidly  getting  a  foot-hold 
in  the  second  range  including  Dakota,  Nebraska  and  Kansas.  I  believe 
this  view  of  the  East,  as  he  calls  it,  more  fairly  takes  into  considera- 
tion the  relation  of  free  coinage  to  the  whole  country  and  to  its  great 
agricultural,  commercial  and  manufacturing  interests,  with  which  they 
are  more  in  daily  and  immediate  contact  than  are  our  friends  in  the 
Rocky  Mountain  States. 

But  we  both  agree  upon  one  point —  that  the  great  need  of  some 
parts  of  the  country  is  enlightenment.  The  opponents  of  free  coinage 
ask  nothing  more  than  free,  fair  and  open  discussion  before  thinking 
men.  He  and  I  would  differ  very  widely  as  to  which  is  the  antidote 
and  which  is  the  poison,  but  I  am  sure  I  should  be  glad  if  the  "  case 
for  silver"  as  he  has  so  eloquently  presented  it  to  the  Congress  and 
the  **  ca'se  against  silver  "  as  I  shall  endeavor  to  present  it  to-night,  or 
a  better  or  clearer  one,  could  go  together  into  benighted  regions,  East 
or  West,  to  be  talked  over,  and  thought  over  and  discussed,  and  picked 
to  pieces,  in  every  country  store,  in  the  gatherings  at  the  country  post- 
office,  and  by  every  intelligent  farmer's  fireside.  The  American  people 
both  East  and  West  are  very  apt  at  this  sort  of  thing,  and  are  sure  to 
get  pretty  near  the  truth  on  any  question  if  you  give  them  time. 

DANGEROUS    CONDITIONS. 

It  has  been  wisely  said  by  an  English  statesman,  that  there 
is  no  period  involving  greater  danger  to  the  good  government 
of  a  nation,  than  one  in  which  industrial  depression  is  general, 
and  the  masses  of  the  people,  restless  and  dissatisfied,  join  in  the 
general  cry  that  something  must  be  done,  and  at  once.  Such  a  period 
is  not  only  the  opportunity  of  the  political  demagogue,  masking 
his  personal  ambition  under  zeal  for  the  interests  of  the  people,  but 
scores  of  honest  and  patriotic  men  everywhere  sincerely  hope  by  the 
application  of  some  favorite  legislative  nostrum,  suggested  by  their  own 
limited  environment  and  range  of  observation,  to  alleviate  the  real  or 
apparent  evil.  The  history  of  civilization  is  dotted  with  these  periods, 
and  there  is  scarcely  one  in  which  a  proposition  to  issue  fiat  money,  or 
for  the  creation  of  a  bountiful  currency  in  some  form,  has  not  borne  a 
conspicuous  part.  At  such  times  money,  however  abundant,  is  inactive. 
Inactivity  is  readily  confounded  with  scarcity.  With  the  conclusion 
reached  that  hard  times  are  due  to  the  scarcity  of  money,  the  demand 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  97 

for  the  issue  of  more  money  readily  finds  support.     What  is  really  a 
result,  is  confounded  with  the  cause  of  the  evil. 

Just  now  faith  in  debasement  of  the  monetary  standard,  in  various 
ways,  as  a  remedy,  is  shared  by  several  other  faiths  in  the  popular 
mind. 

Mr.  George  offers  us  the  "Single  Tax"  upon  land  as  the  pre-emi- 
nent remedy  for  all  the  ills  of  organized  society.  In  his  view,  currency 
and  tariffs  are  of  small  moment.  State  ownership  of  the  railroads 
seems  to  another  class  to  be  the  means  of  securing  universal  prosperity  ; 
and  if  there  is  any  way  of  getting  them  without  paying  anything  for 
them,  and  having  the  State  operate  them  free  of  cost  to  the  public,  it 
presents,  on  the  surface,  pretty  strong  claims,  as  a  relief  to  some  of 
our  ills.  The  socialists  have  their  remedy,  the  production  and  distri- 
bution of  everything  by  the  State.  Mr.  Bellamy  and  the  nationalists 
have  theirs.  The  populists  would  have  the  nation  issue  and  lend  to  the 
people  all  the  money  required.  The  great  national  parties  find  an 
adequate  cause  for  all,  the  one  in  the  policy  of  protection ;  the  other  in 
that  of  taxation  solely  for  revenue. 

But  there  is  a  class  and  it  is  a  large  and  aggressive  one,  especially  in 
the  West,  who  think  they  see  in  the  free  coinage  of  silver  at  the  old 
ratio,  a  remedy  for  all  our  industrial  ills.  In  their  minds  all  our  trouble 
has  been  occasioned  by  the  action  of  the  United  States  and  of  Germany 
and  other  European  States,  more  than  twenty  years  ago  in  unifying  the 
coinage  of  the  German  States,  under  the  Empire,  and  in  adopting  the 
gold  standard.  A  large  number  of  people  are  discontented,  naturally 
so,  with  prevailing  industrial  conditions,  who  are  unwilling  or  unable  to 
study  the  underlying  causes  which  have  brought  about  present  condi- 
tions, are  anxious  to  try  anything  that  is  suggested,  with  the  hope  of 
improving  those  conditions.  In  a  word  —  something  has  got  to  be  done, 
and  the  whole  troop  of  suggested  remedies,  any  or  all,  are  readily  wel- 
comed by  some  portion  of  our 'people,  as  a  possible,  if  not  a  probable, 
means  of  improvement. 

THE    REAL    CAUSES. 

I  do  not  think  there  is  any  proposition  more  easily  capable  of  abso- 
lute proof,  than  that  our  present  condition  is  not  due  in  any  consider- 
able degree,  to  a  refusal  to  adopt  Mr.  George's  remedy,  or  Mr. 
Bellamy's,  or  to  the  fact  of  corporate  ownership  of  railroads,  or  our 
method  of  securing  necessary  revenue  through  the  tariff  under  either 
system,  or  to  the  appreciation  of  gold,  or  to  what  is  called  the  demone- 
tization of  silver.  There  are  many  causes.  But  stated  broadly,  it  is  due 
in  a  great  degree  to  a  too  rapid  development  throughout  the  world  of 
agricultural  and  industrial  interests.  It  has  been  a  development  too 
rapid    and    too    irregular    for    the    proper    and  natural  adjustments 


98  Report  of  Proceedings 

to  distribution  and  consumption.  A  part  of  this  development  is 
due  perhaps  to  our  enormous  immigration  and  to  too  stimulating  legis- 
lation favoring  corporate  organization,  but  a  great  deal  more  in  this 
country  to  the  enterprise,  inventive  genius,  and  push  of  American 
character,  which,  while  increasing  production  to  extreme  limits,  has 
failed  to  measure  the  capacity  of  the  market  for  consumption  within 
the  limit  of  practical  distribution,  and  is  brought  up  very  suddenly  by 
the  stubborn  fact  that  there  are  not  purchasers  enough  for  the  steadily 
increasing  output.  Our  difficulty  is  not  in  providing  for  a  healthy  nor- 
mal and  growing  production  —  but  a  production  increasing  beyond  the 
increase  of  population,  or  its  capacity  to  consume.* 

We  cannot  go  over  this  matter  now,  though  I  believe  this  explanation 
is  the  true  one,  and  as  capable  of  absolute  proof  as  any  proposition  in 
industrial  history.  The  same  thing  has  occurred  before,  and  the  same 
thing  will  occur  again,  as  long  as  the  American  spirit  of  progress  gives 
character  to  all  our  industrial  work.  Reaction  is  the  inevitable  sequence 
of  too  rapid  development.  A  M  boom  ",  to  use  our  western  phrase,  is 
always  followed  by  a  collapse.  We  shall  get  it  through  our  heads  some 
time  that  mere  growth  in  numbers  or  in  aggregate  material  wealth,  is 
not  necessarily  growth  in  the  sum  of  happiness  and  contentment  of  a 
people. 

WHAT    UNLIMITED    COINAGE   MEANS. 

I  propose,  however,  to-night,  to  speak  upon  but  one  of  these 
proposals,  the  demand  for  free  coinage  of  silver  on  a  basis  of 
16  to  1,  as  a  national  need,  or  a  remedy  for  our  national  ills.  It  is 
a  living,  practical  question,  not  to  be  avoided,  or  explained  away,  or 
safely  compromised.  The  people  of  St.  Louis,  who  I  am  here  to  repre- 
sent, have  never  occupied  a  doubtful  position  upon  this  proposition. 
By  the  repeated  expression  of  their  commercial  organizations,  by  their 
representatives  in  Congress,  representing  both  the  great  parties  and 
by  their  press  they  have,  always  with  great  unanimity,  regarded  the  free 
coinage  of  silver  at  a  ratio  of  16  to  1,  not  as  a  remedy,  but  as  a  certain 
aggravation  of  all  our  troubles. 

Fortunately,  it  is  not  as  yet  a  distinct  party  question.  It  is  to  be 
regretted  that  it  is  a  question,  inspiring  or  creating  factional  differences 
within  the  parties.  It  is  unfortunate  that  it  is  a  question  of  apparently 
great  local  importance  to  a  large  section  of  the  country.     It  does  not 

*  Note.—  This  rapid  development  within  twenty  years  is  not  confined  to 
agricultural  products.    In  manufacturing :  — 

1870.  1890. 

Capital  employed  $2,790,000,000  $6,525,000,000 

Value  of  products 5,370,000,000  9,370,000,000 

In    mineral    industries  —  tons    of    iron 

produced 1,692,378  9,269,382 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  99 

help  us  to  solve  a  question  of  this  character  wisely  for  the  whole 
country,  that  there  is  a  local  industry  claiming  to  be  fostered,  which  we 
would  like  to  foster,  a  local  interest  to  be  protected,  which  we  would 
like  to  protect,  for  which  it  is  assumed  something  of  principle  ought  to 
be  surrendered  or  waived.  But  its  true  solution  and  the  only  safe  and 
enduring  solution,  must  be  predicated,  not  upon  the  advantage  to  Lead- 
ville,  or  Denver,  or  Helena,  but  upon  the  need  of  the  whole  country. 
I  think  it  may  be  demonstrated  that,  considered  even  as  a  local  interest, 
there  is  no  enduring  advantage  to  be  derived  by  the  silver  producers  or 
their  States,  from  free  coinage.  Adjustments  of  real  values  are  sure 
in  the  end,  and  all  artificial  supports  lose  ttieir  force  in  the  long  run. 
Our  experience  with  the  Bland-Allison  Act  of  1878  and  the  Sherman 
Act  of  1890  as  legislative  props  ought  to  be  conclusive  upon  this  point. 

Speaking,  however,  not  from  the  stand-point  of  local  interest,  but 
from  a  broad  national  stand-point,  the  real  question  to  be  determined 
is :  What  is  to  be  gained  and  what  is  to  be  lost  to  the  country  by  free 
coinage  ? 

It  is  a  measure  of  tremendous  import,  how  tremendous  I  think  very 
few  fully  appreciate.  The  currency  of  a  country  is  the  life  blood  of 
its  commercial  existence.  It  flows  to  the  remotest  limit,  and  its  quality 
affects  every  interest.  The  unwise  appropriation  of  a  few  millions, 
means  only  a  few  millions  lost.  But  to  change  the  standard  of  the 
nation's  currency,  under  the  conditions  of  difference  in  value  existing 
to-day,  inevitably  affects  every  interest,  modifies  every  commercial 
transaction,  forces  liquidation  and  re-adjustment  of  great  undertakings 
at  terrible  cost,  paralyses  new  enterprises,  and  will  come  home  to  the 
remotest  hamlet  in  the  land.  All  parts  of  the  country  will  suffer,  but 
none  more  surely  than  the  great  West,  which  you  represent  here  to- 
day. 

Have  you  ever  considered  what  the  current  commercial  transactions 
of  this  country  of  ours  represent  in  one  year  —  the  transactions  into 
which  dollars  and  the  character  and  quality  —  in  a  single  word,  the 
value  of  the  legal  tender  dollar  enters? 

The  clearings  of  the  banks  with  each  other  are  not  far  from  seventy 
thousand  millions  annually.  The  transactions  between  individuals, 
and  between  individuals  and  banks,  and  the  retail  business  of  the 
country,  not  represented  in  clearings,  represent  probably  half  as  much 
more.  Here  we  have  one  hundred  thousand  millions,  as  the  annual 
business  of  this  country, —  two  thousand  millions  a  week,  in  all  of 
which  the  real  value  of  the  standard  dollar  is  the  controlling  element. 
Not  a  bale  of  cotton,  a  bushel  of  wheat,  a  pound  of  sugar,  not  a  day's 
labor,  not  a  paper  of  pins  or  a  spool  of  thread,  into  which  this  value 
does  not  enter.  Surely  this  may  well  cause  us  to  pause  in  any  legisla- 
tion disturbing  that  value. 


100  Report  of  Proceedings 

To  disturb  that  value  in  such  a  vast  commerce,  in  any  way,  even 
in  a  slight  degree,  we  know  from  experience  in  all  countries,  means 
the  hoarding  of  the  best  money,  the  suspension  of  new  ventures, 
until  conditions  are  again  settled,  and  the  unrest  and  doubt,  which 
paralyses  all  progress.  Commercial  prosperity  can  only  exist  under 
permanent  and  settled  conditions.  If  slight  disturbance  can  produce 
this  result,  how  much  more  disastrous,  when  a  change  so  radical  as 
that  proposed  in  the  free  coinage  of  silver  at  the  rate  of  16  to  1,  with 
unlimited  legal  tender  quality.  The  real  ratio  in  value  to-day  as 
between  silver  and  gold  is  about  as  30  to  1. 

I  do  not  believe  that  anything  is  to  be  gained  to  the  prosperity  of 
the  country  by  free  coinage,  even  upon  a  real  ratio,  but  coinage  at  a 
real  ratio  even  though  entirely  unnecessary,  has  or  once  had  a  logical 
basis  and  if  it  were  a  settled  ratio,  would  in  a  degree  avoid  the  tremen- 
dous shock  occasioned  by  a  coinage  upon  a  false  and  artificial  ratio, 
enforced  by  the  fiat  of  the  government.  If  there  is  anything  in  bi- 
metallism —  it  is  a  system  which  seeks  to  have  but  one  standard  of 
value  —  one  monetary  unit,  of  value,  but  to  have  that  value  represented 
in  two  different  metals  adjusted  in  quantity  to  a  real  ratio —  the  real 
value  of  each  being  the  same.  There  cannot  be  two  standards  — 
or  two  monetary  units ;  two  differing  dollars  in  value  at  the  same 
time. 

THE    RATIO    OF    16    TO    1. 

The  ratio  of  16  to  1  has  been  set  up  as  a  fetich  to  be  worshiped. 
Because  it  was  a  real  ratio,  or  substantially  so  once,  it  is  assumed  that 
it  must  always  be  so.  Let  us  get  rid  of  the  idea  that  there  is  anything 
sacred  in  the  ratio  of  16  to  1.  Time  was,  perhaps,  when  silver  was 
worth  as  much  as,  or  more  than  gold,  weight  for  weight.*  In  the 
time  of  the  Roman  Empire,  it  had  reached  a  ratio  of  9  or  10  to  1. 
The  great  production  of  silver  in  the  centuries  following  the  discovery 
of  America,  increased  the  difference  in  value,  and  for  many  years  13 
to  1,  14  to  1  and  15  to  1,  were  accepted  as  ratios.  Sometimes  this  ratio 
of  value  continued  apparently  fixed  through  long  periods,  but,  how- 
ever slow  the  change,  it  has  never  escaped  the  everlasting  law  of  final 
adjustment. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  in  earliest  ages,  and  down  even  to  the 
last  half  century,  the  age  of  steam,  international  intercourse  was  very 


*  In  the  earliest  Egyptian. period,  the  old  empire,  silver  was  valued  higher 
than  gold;  under  the  new  empire  at  Thebes  (Thothmes  III.),  either  through 
new  discoveries  or  a  brisker  trade  with  Phenecia  and  Syria,  there  was  a  con- 
siderable fall  in  the  value.  History  does  not  tell  of  the  probable  racket  among 
the  politicians  of  the  day  occasioned  by  the  demonetization.  Erman.  Life  in 
Ancient  Egypt. 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  101 

limited,  hampered  by  a  thousand  obstacles,  and  with  the  money  metals, 
as  with  the  great  staples,  the  movement  of  a  surplus  from  one  nation  to 
another  was  slow  and  uncertain. 

The  age  of  steam  has  made  the  whole  world  one.  There  can  be  now 
no  surplus  of  money  or  commodities  anywhere  in  the  world  that  it  is 
not  hurried  to  fill  the  shortage  elsewhere,  if  one  exists. 

It  is  this  ability  to  move  rapidly  from  nation  to  nation,  throughout 
the  world,  that  now  equalizes  values  rapidly.  We  know  at  the  breakfast 
table  what  was  going  on  yesterday  in  India,  Egypt;  China  and  Japan, 
Australia  and  the  Argentine,  not  only  the  events  Vf  ^political  otf  histo- 
rical importance,  but  the  condition  of  the  crops,  the  number,of  bales  pf 
cotton,  or  bushels  of  wheat,  afloat  for  the, very  ma^etsiirw'atah. our 
cotton  and  wheat  are  sold. 

As  values  of  cotton  or  wheat  or  corn  change  as  it  is  wanted  else- 
where or  not,  by  the  same  law  the  value  of  silver  changes  as  it  is 
wanted  or  not.  Legislation  is  impotent  to  help  or  hinder  these 
changes  to  any  material  extent. 

It  is  the  part  of  common  wisdom  to  recognize  these  new  conditions. 
There  is  no  sense  or  reason  in  blind  devotion  to  an  old  ratio,  simply 
because  it  was  acceptable  once.  It  is  not  founded  on  an  ordinance  of 
Providence  as  some  of  our  friends  seem  to  believe. 

We  do  not  gain  anything  by  shutting  our  eyes  to  real  change  of 
value  or  condition  in  anything,  in  agriculture,  in  mining,  in  manufac- 
turing, in  commerce,  in  political  or  social  development.  We  must,  if 
we  wish  to  reach  a  sound  and  sure  conclusion,  recognize  every  ascer- 
tained fact,  however  unwelcome.  There  is  no  gallantry  or  patriotism 
in  resisting  a  fact.     It  is  simply  folly,  and  the  penalty  issure. 

It  is  an  abuse  of  language  to  talk  about  friends  of  silver  or  enemies 
of  silver.  It  obscures,  rather  than  clears  our  view  of  the  question. 
The  whole  question  is  one  of  commercial  utility.  It  is  one  of  the 
greatest  obstacles  we  contend  with  in  presenting  this  question  to  the 
average  inhabitant  or  average  statesman  of  the  sparsely  settled  States, 
West  or  South,  that  he  has  no  conception  of  the  nature  and  monetary 
requirements  of  our  larger  commerce.  Coin  money  seems  to  him  to 
answer  all  the  purposes  of  buying  a  horse,  or  selling  his  load  of  cotton 
or  corn  or  wheat.  The  moment  the  matter  is  considered  by  the  mer- 
chant, even  in  the  silver  States,  the  conditions,  which  make  silver  mono- 
metallism impossible  to  a  great  commercial  nation,  become  apparent. 
We  need  money,  just  as  we  need  railroads,  telegraphs,  post-offices, 
steamships.  They  are  all  and  alike  our  servants.  As  that  is  the  best 
railroad,  the  best  post-office,  or  the  best  steamship,  which  serves  the 
purposes  of  commerce  best,  without  reference  to  our  friendship  or  enmity, 
so  that  is  the  best  money  which  serves  the  purposes  of  commence 
best.     And  it  is  just  as  important  that  our  money  should  be  safe,  and 


102  Report  of  Proceedings 

sound,  and  efficient  for  our  use,  as  that  the  steamship '  should  be 
seaworthy  and  efficient  in  its  duty. 

There  is  no  more  reason  for  adhering  to  old  and  obsolete  ratios  in 
the  money  metals,  than  for  adhering  to  the  use  of  the  barge,  the  flat 
boat,  or  the  sailing  vessel  for  transportation,  all  valuable  in  their  day, 
and  in  many  places  and  under  many  conditions  just  as  valuable  still. 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  talk  about  demonetization  of  silver.  Silver  is 
used  as  money  as  much  in  volume  as  it  ever  was.  It  will  always 
have,,  and   must,  Jiave   a  large    place   in    the    mone3T    of    the   world 

—  a  place  which ,-  il  ,  ,fills  perfectly.  It  will  no  more  go  out 
of  use ,  than  t*hc:  sailing  vessel  will  go  out  of  use.  Under  wise  leg- 
islation, it  will  havs- a  steadily  increasing  use,  increasing  within  the 
lines  of  safety.  Its  use  will  be,  in  a  measure,  different  from  what  it 
has  been,  but  it  will  be  made  just  as  valuable  and  as  necessary  to  the 
world,  as  it  has  ever  been. 

DIFFERENT    CLASSES    OF    ADVOCATES. 

Free  coinage  of  silver  is  advocated  in  this  country  to-day  by  two 
classes  of  persons  reasoning  from  totally  different  and  inconsistent 
stand-points.  They  cannot  both  be  correct  in  their  claims  of  what  it  is 
to  do  for  silver,  or  for  the  commercial  prosperity  of  the  country. 

Let  us  examine  these  claims  as  fairly  as  we  can. 

By  one  class  it  is  claimed  that  what  is  called  demonetization  has  pro- 
duced the  decline  in  relative  bullion  value  from  16  to  1  in  1873,  to  28 
or  30  to  1  in  1894,  that  free  coinage  by  the  United  States  will  restore 
the  value  of  silver  throughout  the  world  to  the  old  ratio,  with  gold 

—  that  a  parity  will  be  re-established,  and  we  shall  all  be  happy  in  a 
true  bimetallic  millennium. 

Governor  Prince  has  just  presented  to  us  this  view  ;  —  I  think  it  fairly 
represents  the  genuine  claim  of  the  silver  producers.  It  is  an  honest 
position  and  its  defenses  are  to  be  met,  not  with  denunciation,  but  by 
honest  argument. 

By  another  class  the  permanent  change  in  relative  value  is  frankly 
admitted,  but  it  is  claimed  that  the  monetary  unit  as  now  established 
in  gold  is  too  high,  that  by  substituting  silver  and  thereby  reducing  the 
value  of  the  monetary  unit  one-half,  gold  will  be  demonetized  and  it 
will  give  the  country  more  and  cheaper  money  under  the  old  names,  a 
sort  of  getting  two  dollars  for  one,  and  paying  one  dollar  for  two, 
scheme. 

The  first  clas3  believe  that  parity  in  value  and  freedom  of  interchange 
at  the  old  ratio  will  be  maintained.  The  second  class  do  not  desire  or 
expect  to  maintain  the  parity  in  value,  but  desire  and  expect  to  bring 
the  country  to  a  silver  basis,  the  monetary  unit  to  be  the  silver  dollar 
of  412  1-2  grains,  now  worth  about  fifty  cents.     This  is  the  view  of  the 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  103 

long  list  of  political  floaters  —  who  believe  in  fiat  money  and  are  willing 
to  range  themselves  under  the  flag  of  free  coinage,  populism  or  unlim- 
ited issue  of  paper,  either  or  all,  as  the  time  is  most  opportune  for  their 
own  political  preferment.  Free  coinage  just  now  happens  to  be  their 
banner  —  but  they  will  all  desert  it  for  paper,  if  opportunity  occurs.  I 
believe  that  position  is  fundamentally  dishonest  in  its  purpose. 

THE  FIRST    CLASS WHO    CLAIM    THAT    A  PARITY  WILL  BE  RE-ESTABLISHED. 

Let  us  look  at  these  claims  separately.  What  is  called  demonetiza- 
tion in  this  country  is  scarcely  worthy  of  consideration  in  a  discussion 
to  an  intelligent  audience,  and  although  so  much  is  made  of  it,  may  be 
briefly  disposed  of.  As  there  had  been  only  4,000,000  silver  dollars 
coined  in  the  United  States  since  1804,  a  period  of  seventy  years,  it  is 
absurd  to  say  that  the  elimination  of  the  dollar  of  silver  in  the  Coinage 
Act  of  1873,  destroj'ed  any  market  which  had  formerly  existed  for 
silver.  At  that  time,  as  you  will  remember,  412  1-2  grains  of  silver 
were  worth  more  than  a  dollar,  and  it  was  not  supposed  by  any  body, 
not  even  our  Rocky  Mountain  friends,  that  another  412  1-2  grains 
would  ever  be  presented  for  coinage,  or  that  a  silver  dollar  would  ever 
be  required  in  our  currency. 

The  adoption  of  the  gold  standard  by  Germany  in  1873,  and  the 
Latin  Union  in  1878,  had  an  undoubted  influence  upon  the  future 
value  of  silver,  as  it  was  a  limitation  of  future  consumption,  but  the 
influence  has  been  immensely  overrated.  The  action  of  Germany  in 
1873  and  of  the  Latin  Union  in  1878  was  but  the  defense  of  their  mone- 
tary systems  against  influences  destined  to  overwhelm  and  destroy  it, 
if  not  counteracted. 

INCREASED    PRODUCTION   OP    SILVER. 

The  depreciation  of  silver  is  accounted  for  fully  by  the  common 
facts  of  production  and  consumption.  To  claim  that  the  depreciation 
from  $1.29  per  ounce  in  1873  to  68  cents  per  ounce  in  1894,  the  depre- 
ciation of  silver  contained  in  the  dollar  from  $1.00  in  1873  to  50  cents 
in  1894  is  due  to  that  cause,  ignores  the  most  palpable  and  certain 
influences  at  work. 

The  production  of  silver  in  steadily  increasing  volume  under  new 
discoveries  and  improved  methods  of  working,  and  the  artificial  stimu- 
lus given  by  the  act  of  1878  and  that  of  1890,  explain  the  cause  fully 
and  completely.  Had  it  not  been  for  this  enormous  increase,  an 
increase  without  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  money  metals,  a  material 
depreciation  would  not  have  occurred.  The  production  of  1893  ex- 
ceeded the  total  production  for  the  first  fifty  years  following  the 
discovery  of  America. 

We  produced  $150,000  in  silver  in  1860,  $16,000,000  in  1870,  and 


104  Report  of  Proceedings 

$75,000,000  in  1893.  Mexico  produced  $23,000,000  in  1870  and 
$59,000,000  in  1893.  South  America  about  $10,000,000  in  1870,  and 
over  $25,000,000  in  1893. 

The  world's  product  of  silver  in  1870  was  only  about  $51,000,000  as 
against  $107,000,000  gold  ;  in  1893,  largely  under  what  I  cannot  but 
call  the  artificial  legislative  stimulus  given  to  production,  it  was  $196,- 
500,000  in  silver  to  $138,000,000  in  gold,  a  complete  reversal  of  the 
relative  product.  The  annual  gold  product  had  increased  about  30  per 
cent  —  the  silver  about  300  per  cent. 

Demonetization  is  not  the  word  to  apply  to  the  action  of  Germany  or 
the  United  States.  The  gold  standard  was  in  each  adopted  in  the  unifica- 
tion of  the  coinage.  In  Germany  $100,000,000  of  silver  in  use  as  coin 
was  recoined  into  imperial  silver  coins  and  it  is  still  coining  about 
$1,250,000  annually. 

The  action  of  Germany  was  not  a  war  on  silver,  as  it  has  been  so  often 
styled.  The  consolidation  of  the  empire  after  the  war,  found  the  con- 
stituent States  with  seven  different  coinage  systems,  with  seventeen 
kinds  of  gold  coin  —  66  different  silver  pieces  —  46  kinds  of  notes 
issued  by  35  different  banks,  besides  a  considerable  amount  and  variety 
of  State  paper. 

The  unification  of  such  a  system  was  inevitable,  and  the  adoption  of 
the  gold  standard,  was  simply  the  adoption  of  a  system  best  fitted  to 
promote,  as  it  has  promoted,  her  commercial  growth.  At  that  time 
silver  bad  not  depreciated,  the  old  ratio  was  still  substantially  a  true 
one,  and  the  sole  consideration  was  the  adaptation  of  the  currency  to  the 
best  use  of  a  great  civilized  nation. 

The  net  average  annual  silver  coinage  of  Germany  for  a  long  series 
of  years  prior  to  1871  only  amounted  to  about  $10,300,000,  while  the 
statistics  show  that  in  the  sixteen  years  following,  so  great  was  the 
impetus  given  to  the  use  of  silver  in  the  industrial  arts  that  the  imports 
of  silver  exceeded  the  exports  by  over  77,000,000  marks,  about  $19,- 
000,000. 

The  average  annual  coinage  by  France  for  sixteen  years  prior  to  1876 
was  only  $7,400,000.  Belgium  for  ten  years  prior  to  1876  coined 
annually  only  about  $6,700,000  and  Italy  $5,900,000. 

The  coinage  of  Germany,  France,  Belgium  and  Italy  together, 
amounted  to  less  than  $30,000,000  annually.*  If  this  full  amount  of 
average  annual  coinage  had  been  continued  it  would  only  have  consumed 
in  1893  about  20  per  cent  of  the  increased  output  of  nearly  300  per 
cent. 

The  real  ground  of  complaint  against  Germany  and  France  is  not  that 
they  ceased  to  take  their  annual  average  of  silver  for  the  purpose  of 


*  Soetbeer  —  Production  of  Precious  Metals. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  105 

coinage,  but  that  they  ceased  to  take  it  in  continual  increasing  propor- 
tion as  the  product  increased  so  abnormally  throughout  the  world. 

The  nations,  which,  to  protect  their  monetary  systems.,  ceased  to 
continue  upon  the  dangerous  path  of  unlimited  coinage  —  shared  with 
all  other  nations  in  a  largely  increased  consumption  of  silver  in  indus- 
trial work. 

If  this  suspension  of  demand  for  silver  for  coinage  by  European  States 
was  the  sole  or  even  the  principal  occasion  for  the  depreciation,  the  coin- 
age of  about  $30,000,000  annually  by  the  United  States  from  1878  to 
1890  would  have  more  than  supplied  a  market  for  all  the  demand  sus- 
pended by  the  action  of  the  States.  If  it  did  not  restore  the  value,  it 
would  have  checked  the  decline.  For  Germany  and  France,  Belgium 
and  Italy  to  have  continued  the  coinage  of  silver  on  the  old  ratio  under 
the  increased  output  from  1870  to  the  present  time,  would  have  been  to 
invite  a  demoralization  of  values  throughout  the  world,  which  no  nation 
in  its  senses  would  assist  in  producing. 

The  extent  to  which  silver  has  been  increasingly  used  in  the  industrial 
arts  is  often  overlooked. 

From  1861  to  1870  the  average  annual  import  of  silver  into  Great 
Britain  was  about  £9,000,000.  In  the  ten  years  from  1871  to  1881  it 
averaged  £12,750,000,  an  annual  increase  of  £3,750,000  or  in  round 
numbers  $17,000,000.  Much  of  this  of  course  went  finally  to  the  East, 
but  allowing  the  normal  consumption  by  the  eastern  nations  to  be 
maintained  with  a  natural  increase,  the  statistics  show  an  annual  in- 
crease of  £1,000,000  in  industrial  consumption  of  silver.  France,  after 
it  ceased  to  coin,  imported  over  $5,000,000  above  exports;  Italy  over 
$3,000,000,  and  Belgium  and  Austria  in  like  proportion.*  History 
does  not  present  a  case  in  which  monetary  and  industrial  interests  have 
so  struggled  in  every  possible  way  to  adjust  themselves  to  this  over- 
whelming avalanche  of  silver,  to  take  and  use  it  in  some  way.  In  this 
effort  the  United  States,  to  please  the  silver  States,  has  gone  to  the 
farthest  point  of  safety,  if  not  beyond  it.  It  has  done  more,  far  more 
than  could  be  reasonably  asked.  But  with  every  effort,  annually  in- 
creasing production  has  crowded  upon  the  effort  to  use,  and  the  inev- 
itable decline  in  value  could  not  be  stayed.  Probably  upon  this 
extreme  production  the  fall  in  value  has  been  too  great.  If  this  be  so, 
time  will  correct  it.  Price  is  not  always  made  in  the  unconsumable 
commodities  like  silver,  by  the  amount  of  production  in  any  one  year. 
The  tendency  towards  continuous  increase  or  decrease  is  even  more 
potent.     This  dread  of  an  annual  avalanche  of  silver  from  the  United 


*  The  Director  of  the  Mint  estimates  the  consumption  of  silver  for  indus- 
trial purposes  last  year  at  about  9,000,000.  See  alse  Soetbeer,  Consumption  of 
Metals. 


106  Report  of  Proceedings 

States,  has  had  an  undoubted  influence  upon  all  the  markets  of  the 
world. 

The  scheme  by  which  the  United  States  tried  to  stay  the  decline  by 
purchasing  and  storing  in  the  treasury  over  two  thousand  tons  annually 
of  uncoined  American  silver  hastened  the  fall  it  was  intended  to  pre- 
vent. This  accumulated  mass  hangs  over  the  market  of  the  world 
to-day,  just  as  unconsumed  iron  or  cotton  or  wheat  or  any  other  prod- 
uct. Be  it  early  or  late,  some  time  it  must  be  disposed  of.  It  is  an 
unused  and  in  its  present  form  an  unusable  product.* 

Upon  the  adoption  of  free  coinage  by  the  United  States,  say  its 
advocates,  the  old  ratio  will  be  re-established.  Silver  will  be  doubled  at 
once  in  real  value,  throughout  the  world. 

Let  us  see  what  that  means  in  its  application  to  the  world. 

The  purchasing  power  of  silver  to-day  is  about  as  30  to  1.  Free 
coinage  by  the  United  States  thereby  re-establishing  the  old  value  of  16 
to  1,  is  to  at  once  nearly  double  the  purchasing  power  of  silver  held 
elsewhere  —  not  our  own,  for  by  our  fiat  we  have  upheld  the  power  of 
purchase  at  home. 

Where  is  the  silver  of  the  world,  and  who  is  to  benefit  by  this  doubling 
in  its  value  and  in  its  purchasing  power? 

India  has  about  $1,000,000,000  whose  value  is  at  once  to  be  doubled. 
China  has  about  $725,000,000,  whose  purchasing  power  is  to  be 
doubled. 

Spain,  Mexico,  the  Straits,  and  the  South  American  States  have  about 
$400,000,000  whose  purchasing  power  is  to  be  doubled. 

The  Director  of  the  Mint,  substantially  in  accord  with  other  careful 
estimates,  fixes  the  silver  in  the  world  at  about  $3,500,000,000.  We 
are,  then,  it  is  claimed,  by  a  simple  act,  providing  for  free  coinage  in  the 
United  States,  to  enrich  all  these  countries  at  once  by  doubling  the  pres- 
ent value  and  purchasing  power  of  all  this  mass  of  silver,  everywhere 
throughout  the  world.  Think  what  this  really  means  —  an  appreciation 
of  the  value  of  the  whole  currency  of  the  silver  countries  of  100  per 
cent  in  a  single  day,  through  a  legislative  act  of  the  United  States. 
Such  an  appreciation  inevitably  means  the  doubling  of  the  burthen  of 
all  current  or  fixed  indebtedness,  and  measured  in  the  new  currency 
values,  a  depreciation  of  all  commodities  and  fixed  property.  This 
means  universal  bankruptcy. 

There  are  men  in  the  world  who  claim  to  believe  this,  for  this  is 


*  Under  the  Bland  Act  of  1878,  the  United  States  purchased  291,272,000  fine 
ounces  at  a  cost  of  $308,279,260  in  gold.  It  is  now  worth  $186,414,091,  or  a 
loss  to  the  people  $121,865,170. 

Under  the  act  of  1890,  it  purchased  168,674,682  fine  ounces  at  a  cost  of 
$155,931,000. 

This  7,000  tons  is  now  worth  $108,951,796,  a  loss  of  $46,979,204. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  107 

what  restoration  of  value  necessarily  means.  Governor  Prince  takes 
this  position  squarely  and  it  is  the  only  consistent  position  for  those 
who  expect  bimetallism  on  a  ratio  of  16  to  1.  Surely  if  real  value 
can  be  so  easily  created,  Alladin's  lamp  has  been  found  again,  and  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  holds  it.  Let  us  see  if  we  can  change 
the  seasons  by  renaming  the  months,  or  the  time  of  sunrise  and  sunset 
by  a  re-arrangement  of  the  dial  of  the  clock. 

Do  not  be  deceived.  There  is  no  possibility  of  bimetallism  of  any 
kind  under  free  unlimited  coinage  upon  the  old  ratio.  I  have  a  great 
respect  for  an  act  of  Congress,  especially  if  it  is  a  moderately  wise 
act,  but  it  cannot  perform  miracles.  If  what  is  called  bimetallism  is 
ever  to  obtain,  it  can  only  be  by  the  combined  action  of  the  great  com- 
mercial nations  building  it  upon  a  new  ratio  'approximating  actual 
value.* 


*  Note.— The  use  of  this  term,  Bimetallism,  by  the  advpcates  of  the  free 
and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  at  16  to  1  is  one  of  the  most  deceptive  and,  if 
they  were  conscious  of  it,  dishonest  forms  of  argument  to  the  people.  The 
names  of  Suess,  Laveleye,  Courtney,  Balfour,  Foxwell  and  others  in  Europe, 
and  of  Prest.  Andrews  and  Gen.  F,  A.  Walker  in  this  country,  are  quoted  as 
"  Bimetallists,"  hence  advocates  of  free  coinage.  The  persons  named  are  sup- 
porters of  International  Bimetallism,  a  totally  different  thing.  Not  one  of  the 
recognized  defenders  of  international  bimetallism  has  ever  declared  in  favor 
of  free  coinage  by  the  United  States  alone.  Gen.  F.  A.  Walker,  its  most  emi- 
nent exponent  in  this  country,  has  declared  distinctly  his  opinion  that  free 
coinage  by  this  country  alone  would  delay,  if  it  did  not  prevent  adoption  of  an 
international  agreement  establishing  a  par  of  exchange  between  the  gold  and 
silver  using  countries. 

As  to  our  former  legislation  he  says :  "  Our  coinage  of  two  millions  a  month 
under  the  Bland- Allison  act  of  1878  was  directly  against  the  interests  of  bi- 
metallism, while  our  purchase  of  four  millions  five  hundred  ounces  of  silver 
bullion  a  month  under  the  Sherman  act  of  1890,  was  an  even  worse  strategic 
blunder."     Tract  for  the  Times. 

Mr.  Balfour  says :  "If  it  be  possible  by  international  arrangement  to  estab- 
lish a  joint  standard  throughout  the  world,  it  would  not  be  open  to  the  objec- 
tion which  a  single  standard  is  open  to."     Mansion  House  speech,  August,  1893- 

Sir  David  Barbour  says :  u  No  final  or  satisfactory  settlement  of  the  currency 
question  is  possible  except  by  an  international  agreement."  Manchester  speech, 
Feb.  6,1894. 

Sir.  Wm.  Houldsworth  says:  "It  is  an  international  question."  "It  is  the 
duty  of  her  majesty's  government  to  negotiate  without  delay  with  other  nations." 
Prof.  Foxwell  says :  "  Bi-metallism  is  new  and  involves  international  agreement, 
the  question  of  valuation  as  well,  as  the  question  of  ratio.'1''  "  These  matters  can 
not  be  settled  by  isolated  action."  "We  shall  never  settle  the  monetary  diffi- 
culty without  international  action." 

•From  the  Official  Statement  of  the  Bimetallic  League:  "  The  aim  of  the  Bi- 
Metallic  League  is  to  secure  by  international  agreement  the  opening  of  the  mints 
of  the  leading  commercial  nations  to  the  unrestricted  coinage  of  gold  and  silver 
at  such  a  fixed  ratio  as  may  be  mutually  agreed  upon  amongst  those  nations. 


108  Report  of  Proceedings 

No  secure  system  can  be  established  on  the  idea  of  favor  in  either 
metal,  and  it  must  be  so  extended  that  either  metal  may  freely  flow 
from  nation  to  nation  without  loss,  as  a  surplus  accumulates  in  one  or 
the  other.  The  moment  the  idea  obtains  to  any  considerable  degree 
anywhere  that  one  metal  is  the  best  to  get  rid  of  and  the  other  is  the 
best  to  keep,  that  moment  bimetallism  is  gone  in  fact,  and  no  legisla- 
tion, unless  it  can  change  human  nature  itself,  can  save  it.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  historical  fact  there  never  has  been  any  actual  period  of 
bimetallism,  in  a  strict  sense,  in  this  country.  It  has  been  a  system  of 
alternating  standards.  We  have  a  gold  standard  to-day  because  under 
the  ratio  of  1834  and  1837,  silver  was  worth  the  most,  and  the  business 
of  the  country  adjusted  itself  to  the  lower  standard  of  gold,  as  it  always 
does  —  a  law  as  old  as  human  history. 

There  can  be  but  one  result  of  a  free  coinage  act,  by  which  it  is 
attempted  to  give,  by  legislation,  a  fiat  value  or  any  other  than  a  bullion 
value  to  silver.  .If  we  are  willing  under  any  wild  delusion,  to  stamp 
and  label  it,  and  compel  its  circulation  among  our  own  people  for  more 
than  it  is  worth,  the  world  will  provide  us  its  hoard  as  long  as  the 
delusion  lasts.  Silver  will  come  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth, 
as  long  as  we  are  willing  to  take  it  at  more  than  it  is  worth  elsewhere. 
Gold  will  go  out  to  pay  for  it,  and  a  mono-metallism  of  silver  will  be 
established. 

At  best,  say  some  of  our  friends  who  want  to  be  "  friendly  "  but 
have  been  intelligent  enough  to  see  this  inevitable  result,  let  us  only 
coin  American  silver.  This  is  an  admission  of  the  whole  case  against 
silver.  Considered  as  coin,  with  all  the  qualities  that  must  be  inherent 
in  coin  —  there  is  no  difference  in  value  between  American  gold  or 
silver,  and  the  gold  or  silver  of  any  country,  and  the  whole  problem 
remains,  and  will  always  remain,  as  long  as  we  try  to  coin  American, 
or  any  other  silver,  upon  a  false  basis. 

Good  wine  needs  no  bush.  A  good  coin,  whether  of  gold  or  silver, 
needs  no  favor.  It  can  dispense  even  with  legal  tender  acts,  it  can 
take  care  of  itself  without  impairment  in  any  crisis,  in  every  part  of 
the  world. 

The  government  can  create  a  coin  but  it  cannot  create  value 
in  coin.  Its  only  office  is  to  give  assurance  of  purity  and  weight 
by    so    shaping    a    given    quantity     of    metal  —  that    it    will    pre- 


"No  settlement  is,  however,  in  our  opinion  possible  without  international 
action.  The  remedy  we  suggest  is  essentially  international  in  its  character  and 
its  details  must  be  settled  in  concert  with  the  other  powers."     Sec.  34. 

"The  particular  ratio  to  be  adopted  is  not  in  our  opinion  a  necessary  prelim- 
inary to  the  opening  of  negotiations  and  can  be  left  for  further  discussion  and 
settlement."    Sec.  35. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  109 

serve  that  quantity  and  its  value  unimpaired.  The  notion  that  a 
coin  can  be  made  safe  upon  any  other  basis  than  that  of  intrinsic 
value,  obtains  nowhere  else  than  in  the  United  States.  Cernuschi,  the 
ablest  and  most  consistent  bimetallist  of  the  generation,  says,  "  That 
is  the  only  true  coin  which  will  stand  the  test  of  fire  —  that  is  worth  as 
much  melted,  as  it  was  before.,, 

Here  in  the  United  States,  the  idea  that  an  act  of  Congress  can  give 
a  value  to  a  coin,  not  inherent  in  the  substance,  is  of  recent  growth. 

Up  to  the  act  of  1878,  all  coinage  of  the  United  States  was  made  upon 
ascertained  actual  value,  whether  of  silver  or  gold.  The  mint  merely 
gave  the  stamp  of  uniform  weight  and  fineness.  So  indifferent  was 
this  country  as  to  whose  stamp  it  was,  so  that  it  was  an  honest  one, 
that  by  the  acts  of  Congress  of  1793,  1816,  1819,  1823,  1834  and  1843, 
the  gold  coin  of  England,  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  the  silver  coins 
of  France,  Spain,  Mexico,  Peru,  Chili  and  Central  America,  were  not 
only  made  receivable  by  the  United  States,  but  were  made  legal  tender 
throughout  the  United  States,  at  rates  established  according  to  their 
actual  weight  and  fineness  as  compared  with  the  standard  of  the  United 
States.  I  may  remark  in  this  connection,  that  the  gold  eagle  ($10),  of 
the  United  States,  is  legal  tender  throughout  the  dominion  of  Canada, 
to-day. 

How  false  our  whole  position  is  in  coining  silver  on  a  ratio  of  16  to  1 
is  made  apparent  by  this  simple  test.  The  result  is  irresistible  in  its 
exposure  of  our  weakness.     Let  us  apply  it. 

An  act  of  Congress  to  make  legal  tender  the  gold  coin  of  any  coun- 
try, or  every  country  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  at  rates  established 
according  to  their  actual  weight  and  fineness  as  compared  with  the  25.8 
grain  standard  dollar  of  the  United  States,  would  not  produce  a  ripple 
of  disturbance  in  the  commercial  world.  Not  a  sovereign,  or  franc,  or 
mark,  or  florin,  or  peso,  would  come  or  go,  except  in  the  normal  flow 
created  in  the  settlement  of  international  balances.  «There  would  be  no 
movement,  simply  because  the  coin  would  have  no  more  value  in  one 
place  than  another. 

To  pass  an  act  to  receive  the  silver  coin  of  the  world  as  legal  tender, 
at  rates  established  according  to  weight  and  fineness,  according  to  our 
false  412  1-2  grain  dollar,  would  bankrupt  the  country,  as  it  would 
mean  taking  the  world's  silver  at  double  its  present  value.  Does  not 
this  prove  that  this  position  is  inconsistent  and  untenable? 

By  an  act  of  Congress,  it  is  made  the  duty  of  the  Director  of  the 
Mint  to  estimate  quarterly  the  value  of  foreign  coins,  and  that  the  same 
shall  be  proclaimed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  The  silver 
coins  of  other  countries  are  rated  at  commercial  value  and  in  the  valu- 
ation of  October,  1894,  the  Mexican  dollar  is  valued  at  51  cents.  If 
our  American  silver  dollar  were  coined  in  any  other  country  it  would 


110  Report  of  Proceedings 

now  be  rated  at  about  50  cents.  But  we  compel  our  own  people  to 
take  it  for  100  cents.     Is  this  sensible,  fair  or  honest? 

If  there  is  a  fact  absolutely  determined,  and  without  exception  in  the 
history  of  the  world's  money,  it  is  that  two  currencies  of  different  stand- 
ard value  cannot  circulate  together.  If  either  one  is  worth  more  else- 
where than  it  is  at  home,  it  will  go  away  just  as  surely  as  corn  or  wheat  or 
cotton,  or  any  other  commodity,  willgo  where  it  is  worth  the  most.  In 
France  and  in  the  United  States,  silver  at  the  old  ratio  is  maintained 
at  a  parity  with  gold,  but  in  both  cases  it  circulates,  not  upon  its  own 
value  as  coin,  but  because  the  respective  governments  have  not  only 
pledged  themselves  to  sustain  this  parity  as  to  existing  coinage,  but 
have  so  administered  their  financial  policy  as  to  make  them  to  the  ex- 
tent of  the  present  coinage  practically  inconvertible.  Free  and  unlim- 
ited coinage  by  France  or  the  United  States  would  make  this  impossi- 
ble, and  gold  and  silver  would  part  company  at  once.  Both  countries 
have  all  they  can  do  to  maintain  what  they  have  already  coined. 

In  the  popular  discussions  of  the  silver  question,  on  the  stump,  even 
in  Congress  and  often  by  the  press,  the  word  "  bimetallism"  is  often 
used  carelessly  to  describe  very  different  things.  If  by  the  word  is 
meant  a  common  and  general  use  of  both  gold  and  silver  under  a  system 
of  absolutely  free  and  unlimited  coinage,  it  does  not  exist,  has  never 
existed  anywhere  and  cannot  exist.  If  it  is  intended  to  mean  a  common 
and  general  use  of  both  metals  under  conditions  which  will  promote  the 
largest  use  of  both,  it  cannot  be  attained  by  unlimited  coinage  of  silver. 
No  gold  would  be  coined,  for  it  would  be  worth  more  as  bullion.  The 
only  hope  for  a  large  use  of  silver  with  gold  is  under  the  shield  and 
protection  of  gold  as  a  standard.  This,  although  technically  not 
bimetallism,  is  the  condition  in  France,  Belgium,  Holland  and  the 
United  States,  to-day.  Silver  may  be  maintained  in  very  large  though 
always  limited  volume  under  a  gold  standard,  but  in  no  country  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,  at  any  time  in  its  history,  has  a  dollar  of  gold  ever 
been  maintained  in  common  use  under  a  silver  standard.  I  challenge 
our  silver  friends  here  to-night  to  cite  a  single  example  of  such  a  case. 
If  we  are  to  have  monometallism  of  silver,  free  coinage  cannot  make  it 
any  worse.  But  if  we  desire  to  use  both  metals  as  freely  as  it  is  possi- 
ble to  use  them  both,  which,  though  not  the  scientific,  is  the  popular 
meaning  of  the  word  "bimetallism,"  it  can  only  be  accomplished  by 
limiting  the  coinage  of  silver  under  the  gold  standard.  We  are  doing 
that  and  maintaining  a  volume  of  silver  almost  too  large  for  safety. 
This  is  what  France  is  doing  by  limiting  the  coinage  of  silver.  There 
is  and  can  be  no  other  possible  bimetallism,  a  common  and  general  use 
of  both  metals  in  one  country.  I  believe  that  this  is  what  most  of  those 
in  the  West  have  in  mind,  when  they  claim  to  be  bimetallists,  and  that 
they  can  be  made  to  see  that  that  end  is  not  attainable  by  the  free  and 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  Ill 

unlimited  coinage  of  silver  at  a  false  ratio.  That  means  silver  alone, 
as  it  does  in  Mexico  and  the  South  American  States  where  free  coinage 
obtains. 

THE    SILVER    MONOMETALLISTS. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  claim  of  the  other  class  who  are  advocating 
unlimited  coinage,  the  reasons  upon  which  it  is  based,  and  the  results 
to  the  country.  There  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  claim  of  this 
class  is  right,  to  the  extent  that  free  coinage  by  the  United  States  means 
not  bimetallism,  under  any  definition  of  the  word,  but  a  sole  silver 
standard.  Silver  will  come  into  the  country  in  abundance  but  our  gold 
will  leave. 

Does  any  interest  of  this  country,  agricultural,  manufacturing  or 
commercial,  wish  to  bring  about  this  result? 

We  have  a  standard  now  in  accord  with  that  of  the  civilized  world. 
We  are  one  of  the  most  advanced  nations  in  every  respect  of  civiliza- 
tion, in  intercommunication,  in  production,  in  intelligence  and  political 
progress. 

Humboldt  made  the  observation  more  than  half  a  century  ago,  that 
while  advancing  civilization  had  for  centuries  moved  toward  the  West, 
the  steady  trend  of  the  use  of  silver,  reversing  that  order,  had  been 
toward  the  East. 

It  is  not  only  a  fact,  but  it  is  a  fact  grounded  in  the  very 
differences  between  the  Eastern  and  Western  nations.  Advanced 
civilization  means  a  large  varied  and  extended  domestic  and 
foreign  commerce,  the  production  and  interchange  of  a  great  variety 
of  commodities,  in  large  volume,  the  most  efficient  and  perfect 
facilities  for  aggregation,  and  distribution,  and  a  perfect  monetary 
system  adapted  to  the  larger  as  well  as  the  smaller  transactions.  In 
the  Eastern  nations,  labor  is  poorly  rewarded,  transactions  are  small, 
and  are  usually  discharged  in  coin.  In  nations  like  China,  Japan  and 
India,  where  the  smaller  coins  in  every-day  use  affecting  all  business 
are,  as  in  the  case  of  China,  worth  about  one- tenth  of  our  cent  (1000 
to  a  dollar),  or  in  Corea  about  4000  to  a  dollar,  it  is  easy  to  understand 
how  it  is  that  silver  may  be  king  —  that  a  dollar  which  is  the  largest 
practical  limit  in  size  of  a  coin,  may  look  large.  But  the  commercial 
transactions  of  great  and  powerful  civilized  countries  are  not  small. 
Daily  transactions  occur  in  all  our  cities,  and  even  larger  towns,  where 
commodities  are  aggregated  for  distribution,  whose  purchase  or  sale  it 
would  require  tons  of  silver  to  discharge.  Gold  simply  by  its  own  fit- 
ness, has  became  necessary  in  settlement  of  the  larger  balances  of  com- 
merce, and  it  would  be  only  a  question  of  degree  of  inconvenience,  be- 
tween using  silver  alone  in  the  larger  commerce  of  the  world,  and  using 
the  iron  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  or  the  bronze  and  copper  of  the 
Chinese. 


112  Report  of  Proceedings 

Each  has,  or  has  had,  its  true  place  where  it  has  obtained,  but  to 
force  it  into  a  place  for  which  it  is  not  suited,  simply  imposes  upon 
commerce  an  unnecessary  burden,  which  in  the  end,  must  be  borne  by 
the  whole  people. 

All  money  has  not  the  same  adaptability  to  commercial  use.  Even 
if  relative  value  could  be  perfectly  adjusted,  we  could  do  efficiently 
with  silver,  what  we  cannot  do  with  copper,  or  nickel,  or  bronze,  yet 
the  nickel,  or  copper,  or  bronze,  are  as  surely  money  within  the  range 
of  their  use  as  gold  or  silver.  The  world  has  determined  by  experi- 
ence beyond  all  law,  that  gold,  by  possessing  large  value  in  small  bulk, 
is  the  most  efficient  standard  money  for  use  by  the  great  commercial 
nations,  in  their  intercourse ;  that  silver  has,  and  ought  to  have,  an  ex- 
tensive use,  where  gold  would  not  answer  as  well,  and  that  nickel,  and 
copper,  have  their  limited  uses,  but  that  any  sound  monetary  system 
must  bind  them  together  by  a  real,  not  an  artificial  ratio,  or,  as  in  the 
case  of  our  subsidiary  coinage,  by  some  system  of  redemption  or  inter- 
change by  which  the  one  may  always  command  its  equivalent  in  the 
other,  if  needed. 

There  is  no  prejudice  against  silver,  any  more  than  there  is  a  preju- 
dice against  the  sailing  craft,  when  we  take  the  steamship,  or  against 
the  horse,  when  we  use  the  electric  road.  Gold  answers  the  purpose 
better,  as  for  certain  purposes  the  steamship  or  the  electric  motor  does. 
Silver  will  always  continue  to  be  used  extensively,  and  more  and  more 
under  wise  legislation,  for  a  large  part  of  our  volume  of  money.  In 
England,  France,  Germany  and  the  United  States,  probably  the  largest 
number  of  every-day  transactions  are  discharged  in  silver  —  not  the 
larger  amount. 

That  money  metal  is  the  best,  and  ought  to  be  used  just  when  and 
where  it  best  fulfills  the  need  to  be  supplied. 

Silver  can  no  more  be  forced  beyond  this  point,  by  law,  even  if 
coined  upon  actual  and  «^t.tled  value,  without  disturbance  of  commerce, 
any  more  than  nickel  copper  can.  We  once  coined  gold  dollars, 
half  cents,  and  twenty-cent  pieces.  The  coinage  was  discontinued 
because  they  supplied  no  monetary  need.  We  found  the  same  thing 
true  of  the  silver  dollars  cf  *  78.  Of  the  $419,332,000  coined,  there 
were  on  July  1,  1893,  less  than  $50,000,000  in  circulation,  and  all  of 
the  efforts  of  secretaries  of  the  treasury  of  both  the  great  political 
parties  to  get  more  into  circulation,  have  failed.  We  got  up  the 
device  of  the  certificate,  by  which  five  or  ten  or  twenty  dollars  could  be 
represented  in  one  note,  concealing  the  objections  to  weight  and  bulk. 
If  a  certificate  for  10,000  copper  cents  were  by  law  made  a  legal  tender 
for  100  dollars,  we  might  blind  ourselves  just  as  easily  as  we  blind 
ourselves  with  the  silver  certificate,  but  it  would  not  be  more  objection- 
able in  substance. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  113 

EFFICIENCY  AND  SUPPLY  OF  GOLD. 

We  have  to-day  in  this  country  a  volume  of  gold  of  about  $660,000,- 
000,  sustaining  our  whole  currency,  a  volume  larger  than  any  country 
in  the  world  except  France ;  our  visible  supply  (in  the  Treasury  and 
banks)  is  even  larger  than  that  of  France. 

We  are  large  and  increasing  producers  of  gold.  We  have  a  national 
credit  which  can  call  gold  from  all  quarters  of  the  earth  to  any  extent 
needed.  We  are  a  creditor  nation,  and  the  natural  flow  of  gold  is  to- 
ward us.  Under  wise  legislation,  by  which  a  sound,  safe  and  elastic 
banking  system  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  whole  country  —  the  West 
and  South,  as  well  as  the  North  and  East  —  no  country  in  the  world  is 
better  fitted  to  maintain  a  gold  standard,  and  provide  a  general  cur- 
rency absolutely  safe  and  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  whole  people.* 

The  world  does  not  need  gold  for  a  circulating  currencj'.  It3  larger 
commerce,  by  which  I  mean  every  conceivable  form  of  interchange, 
from  the  producer  in  any  part  of  the  world  to  the  consumer  in  any 
other  part,  can  be  far  more  efficiently  handled  through  safe  and  appro- 
priate banking  systems.  It  needs  gold  enough,  and  only  enough  to 
settle  international  balances,  to  guarantee  the  safety  of  such  systems 
under  the  severest  stress,  and  furnish  the  assurance  that  every  dollar, 
however  represented  or  expressed  in  silver  or  paper,  can  be  converted 
into  gold  of  a  definite  weight  and  purity.  The  objections  so  often  made 
in  the  West  to  a  banking  system,  next  to  the  post-office,  the  most  eco- 
nomic and  efficient  instrument  of  commerce,  is  one  of  the  most  unac- 
countable phases  of  opinion  in  an  intelligent  and  progressive  people. 
It  is  a  survival  of  an  old  prejudice  formed  when  the  primitive  frontier 
bank  was  as  unlike  the  perfected  bank  of  to-day,  as  the  Mississippi 
steamboat  boiler  of  that  period  was  unlike  the  boiler  of  to-day.  This 
world  has  progressed  in  the  knowledge  of  what  constitutes  safety, 
security  and  public  service  in  banks,  as  it  has  in  what  constitutes 
safety,  security  and  public  service  in  steamboat  boilers. 

If  there  were  no  other  consideration  but  that  of  convenience,  it 
would  be  an  unpardonable  folly  for  a  great  commercial  nation  to 
abandon  the  gold  standard  for  the  silver  standard,  except  under  the 
direst  stress,  still  more  when  it  has  all  the  gold  that  it  requires,  and 
can  with  ease  command  more  if  needed. 

DANGER   IN   ABRUPT     CHANGE    OF    STANDARD. 

But  I  think  those  who  advocate  free  coinage  have  failed  to  measure 
the  tremendous  shock  to  the  country  in  the  abrupt  shifting  of  stand- 
ards so  widely  differing  as  they  do  to-day  under  the  ratio  in  use. 


*  The  gold  coinage  of  the  United  States  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1894, 
amounted  to  $99,474,000,  the  largest  in  the  history  of  the  mint. 


114  Report  of  Proceedings 

When  the  established  ratio  is  based  upon  real  values  comparatively 
fixed  as  they  once  were,  change  of  standard  from  gold  to  silver  may 
only  mean  the  abandonment  of  an  efficient  system  for  one  inefficient 
and  cumbersome.  But  where  the  ratio  in  use  is  false,  as  in  the  United 
States,  change  of  standard  means  necessarily  a  radical  change  in  the 
value  of  the  monetary  unit  —  a  dollar  is  at  once  to  have  a  value  of  50 
or  52  cents  instead  of  one  hundred  cents. 

It  is  a  comparatively  easy  matter  to  come  down  the  stairs  of  a  ten 
story  building,  even  if  one  is  sharply  pushed  all  the  way,  but  to  be 
pitched  off  the  roof,  involves  considerations  of  danger  from  which  the 
most  courageous  may  well  shrink.  Yet  that  is  just  what  it  amounts 
to,  by  a  simple  act  of  legislation,  to  change  the  monetary  unit  to  such 
an  extent.  Such  an  act  of  supreme  folly  has  never  yet  been  committed 
by  any  civilized  or  uncivilized  nation.  In  every  case  where  standards 
have  been  changed  it  has  been,  in  fact,  accomplished  under  the  work- 
ing of  natural  law,  without  abrupt  change  in  values.  Legislation  has 
simply  confirmed  what  has  already  practically  existed.  Difference  in 
value  was  relatively  slight  and  barely  measurable,  and,  while  often  dis- 
turbing to  a  degree,  such  change  has  not  been  destructive,  as  it  would 
be  under  present  ratios. 

England  has  become  a  gold  country  by  a  slight  difference  in  the 
legal  ratio  by  which  silver  was  undervalued,  and  it  left  the  country. 

We  became  a  gold  country  in  precisely  the  same  way.  Under  the 
ratio  established  in  the  act  of  April  2,  1792,  the  bullion  value  of  silver 
in  1804  was  greater  than  its  full  value  as  coined,  and  its  coinage 
practically  ceased.  Up  to  1834  we  had  theoretically  a  double  standard, 
but  in  fact  a  gold  standard.  By  the  re-adjustment  of  this  ratio  not  a 
dollar  of  legal  tender  silver  was  coined  between  1804-1834  ;  under  the 
acts  of  June  28,  1834,  and  January  18,  1837,  silver  remained  still,  in  a 
slight  degree,  more  valuable  as  bullion  than  as  <  oin,  and  left  us  theo- 
retically still  with  a  double  standard,  but  in  fact  a  gold  standard. 
The  difference  was  slight  —  reaching  only  two  or  three  per  cent,  and 
that  gradually,  and  without  disturbance. 

ABUNDANCE  OF  MONEY. 

Do  we  need  more  money?  The  real  supply  of  money  is  all  the 
money  in  circulation  wherever  it  may  be.  If  this  is  accumulated  in 
money  centers,  and  any  man  cannot  get  it,  it  is  because  that  which  he 
has  to  offer  in  exchange  for  it  is  not  wanted,  or  the  world  can  get  it 
somewhere  else  for  less  money.  It  may  not  be  his  fault,  but  there  is 
no  sentiment  about  it.  No  increase  of  a  surplus  already  great,  will 
enable  those  to  get  it  who  have  not  that  to  offer  which  the  purchaser 
wants.  If  under  conditions  of  ample  supply,  it  is  hoarded,  or  held 
from  active  use,  or  there  is  an  unwillingness   to  buy  or  to  invest,  it  is 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  115 

time  to  look  for  some  other  cause  than  that  of  scarcity.  The  world  is 
full  of  schemes,  unwise  in  purpose,  projected  upon  an  unsound  basis, 
or  defective  in  their  assurance  of  security  and  revenue,  which  do  not 
command  the  attention  of  the  investor,  the  man  who  has  money, 
whether  a  dollar  or  a  thousand.  Projectors  instead  of  revising  their 
schemes,  are  quite  ready  to  cry  scarcity  of  money,  when  the  real 
scarcity  is  one  of  credit. 

The  final  test  of  abundance  of  money  is  the  rate  of  interest.  Not 
for  any  particular  month  or  year  where  exceptional  causes  may  operate, 
but  its  general  tendency  towards  increase  or  decrease.  Taking  this 
city  as  a  center,  let  me  cite  the  fact  that  within  a  generation  a  rate  of 
ten  per  cent  prevailed  for  )^ears,  then  eight,  then  six.  Now,  on 
unquestioned  security,  five  per  cent  is  usual.  Our  State  and  city, 
within  a  generation,  were  compelled  to  pay  seven  per  cent.  Now  a 
rate  of  four  and  even  three  and  one-half  per  cent  will  command  all  the 
capital  required. 

Can  money  be  scarce  when  such  rates  obtain  on  long  time,  and 
money  can  be  had  in  abundance?  Remember  that  while  we  all  want 
money,  no  one  wishes  to  keep  it,  if  he  can  safely  put  it  to  use.  The 
depositor  of  five  or  ten  dollars  in  the  savings  bank  is  governed  by  pre- 
cisely the  same  motive  as  the  large  capitalist,  the  desire  for  some 
return,  and  when  large  sums  are  accumulated  as  they  are  to-day  in  all 
the  great  cities  of  this  country,  and  the  lending  rate  in  New  York  is 
only  about  two  per  cent  per  annum,  and  in  Boston,  Chicago,  St.  Louis, 
Baltimore,  New  Orleans,  relatively  as  low,  it  is  time  to  inquire  whether 
unsettled  confidence  and  credit  is  not  the  cause,  and  not  the  scarcity  of 
money,  and  to  take  steps  to  re-establish  rather  than  disturb  it. 

THE    PER    CAPITA   TEST. 

Taking  all  our  currency  together,  we  have  now  a  per  capita  of  about 
$25.50,  the  greatest  in  our  history,  and  the  greatest  in  the  world  except 
France.  It  is  30  per  cent  more  than  Great  Britain ;  it  is  nearly  50  per 
cent  more  than  Germany,  nearly  three  times  the  per  capita  of  Italy  or 
Austria,  more  than  four  times  that  of  Mexico,  and  two  and  a  half  times 
that  of  Canada,  a  prosperous  country  in  commerce,  manufactures  and 
agriculture,  not  differing  materially  in  its  methods  from  our  own. 
Taking  our  whole  country  together,  we  have  more  complete  and  rapid 
communication,  more  perfect  personal  and  business  relations,  and  the 
facilities  for  transfer  of  money  to  points  where  needed,  surpassed  by  no 
nation  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

In  the  prosperous  years  1867  to  1873,  when  prices  of  everything 
ruled  high  —  cotton,  wheat,  corn,  iron  —  our  per  capita  of  currency  was 
$18.25.     In  the  prosperous  years  1879  to  1884,  it  was  only  $22.60. 

Is  it  reasonable  or  sensible  then  to  claim  that  with  a  currency  per 


116  Report  of  Proceedings 

capita  of  over  $25.00,  the  largest  in  our  history,  our  present  ills  are  in 
any  degree  due  to  a  scarcity  ?  May  it  not  be  worth  while  to  remember 
that  this  great  increase  in  per  capita  since  1884  has  been  all  in  depre- 
ciated silver,  which  has  threatened  the  integrity  of  the  whole  body  of 
our  currency  ?  Has  not  the  quality  of  currency  more  to  do  in  the  matter 
than  the  amount?  Does  not  a  reasonable  fear  of  the  quality  account 
for  the  inactivity  which  is  mistaken  for  scarcity? 

"  But  though  there  is  an  abundance  of  money  in  the  East  and  the  great 
cities,  we  cannot  get  it  in  the  West  and  South.' '  Such  a  statement  is  too 
general.  There  are  many  portions  of  the  West  and  South,  which  can 
command  on  public  and  private  credit  all  the  money  they  require,  even 
at  the  present  time.  But  they  are  the  portions  where  a  high  sense  of 
public  and  private  credit  prevails  —  where  there  is  not  a  shadow  of 
doubt  to  the  investor  about  the  security  and  protection  of  his  property 
under  the  law.  High  sense  of  credit,  by  which  I  mean  not  great  wealth, 
but  a  general  popular  recognition  of  private  right  and  public  duty  as 
applied  to  property,  will  command  money  for  all  safe  and  legitimate 
uses,  everywhere,  as  well  now  as  at  any  time. 

Thousands  of  tons  of  silver  in  our  currency  at  any  ratio  will  not 
change  the  conditions  upon  which  money  or  capital  will  flow  to  or  avoid 
any  section  or  State. 

But,  say  our  friends,  gold  has  appreciated  in  value.*    The  monetary 

*  Note.—  The  world's  product  of  gold  for  1893  was  $155,522,000  —  larger 
than  the  great  product  of  1853,  when  Australia  and  California  were  produc- 
ing their  largest  yield.  It  will  probably  reach  $  175,000,000  this  year.  See 
Beport  of  Director  of  the  Mint. 

During  the  seven  years  since  1887,  the  annual  gold  product  has  increased 
about  75  per  cent,  a  rate  far  beyond  that  of  population  —  or  commercial 
requirements.  If  prices  have  declined  in  the  face  of  such  an  increased  pro- 
duction of  gold,  the  cause  must  be  looked  for  elsewhere  than  in  appreciation 
of  the  value  of  that  metal. 

Note. —  The  per  capita  wealth  of  the  country  —  the  aggregate  real  and 
personal  property,  is  given  by  the  censtfs  as  follows: — 

1850  1860  1870  1880  1890 

$308  $514  $780  $870  $1039 

These  figures  completely  refute  the  charge  that  there  has  been  any  such 
general  shrinking  in  value,  as  would  be  caused  by  an  appreciation  of  gold. 
The  increase  has  been  the  largest  in  the  Western  States.  The  classification  as 
given  in  the  census  shows  the  increase  of  wealth  per  capita  in  the  decade 
1880-90  was:  — 

For  the  whole  country 19  per  cent. 

For  the  North  Atlantic  States 19  per  cent. 

For  the  South  Atlantic  States 17  per  cent. 

For  the  North  Central  States •  19  per  cent. 

For  the  South  Central  States 30  per  cent. 

For  the  Western  States 74  per  cent. 

See  Abstracts  of  Eleventh  Census. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  117 

unit,  the  standard  dollar  of  25^-  grains,  is  worth  more  than  formerly, 
and  is  steadily  increasing  in  value. 

I  think  I  have  shown  that  there  is  abundant  reason  to  account  for  the 
depreciation  of  silver  in  the  abnormal  production.  Prices  of  our  chief 
commodities  have  fallen,  it  is  said.  But  there  can  be  no  greater  fallacy' 
in  reasoning,  than  to  select  any  one  or  two  or  three  commodities, 
though  important  ones,  and  jump  to  the  conclusion  that  if  prices  have 
fallen,  the  money  in  which  prices  are  measured  has  become  more 
valuable.  Cannot  we  account  for  the  fall  in  prices  upon  other  adequate 
and  sufficient  grounds?* 

It  would  take  too  long,  in  an  address  of  this  character,  to  go  over  all 
the  tests  and  comparisons,  and  there  are  many,  but  there  is  adequate 
explanation  of  decline  in  the  price  of  cotton  and  wheat,  our  great  com- 
modities, in  the  tremendous  impetus  given  to  their  production  over 
increased  areas  not  only  in  this  country,  but  in  India,  Eussia,  Egypt, 
Australia  and  the  Argentine,  all  of  which  countries  compete  with  us  in 
the  markets  of  Europe,  operating  together  with  the  immense  decline  in 
the  cost  of  transportation  in  our  own  and  other  countries,  brought 
about  by  the  unexampled  construction  of  railways,!  and  the  great 
increase  of  cheap  steam  transportation  upon  the  ocean. 

The  gold  supply  of  the  world  was  estimated  in  1885  at  about  21,- 
207,000,000  marks,  J  over  5,000,000,000  dollars,  held  almost  entirely  in 
civilized  countries  of  Europe  and  America,  thus  giving  it  great  mobil- 
ity. The  supply  is  being  increased  about  $150,000,000  annually.  No 
country  experiences  a  scarcity,  and  supplemented  for  commercial  uses, 
as  this  supply  is  in  all  civilized,  countries,  by  sound  and  efficient 
banking  systems,  it  is  ample  for  the  world's  needs. 

VALUE    OF    MONEY. 

As  the  test  of  abundance  is  rate  of  interest,  the  one  supreme  test  of 
value  of  money  is  the  reward  of  labor,  and  that  test  applied,  a  day's 
labor  is  worth  more  in  gold  than  at  any  previous  period  in  the  world's 
history.  §  If  gold  had  appreciated  wages  would  have  declined.  A  day' s 
labor  in  this  country  can,  to-day,  not  only  command  more  gold,  but  can 
secure  more  for  the  gold.  That  cannot  be  said  of  any  country  in  which 
the  silver  standard  is  established. 


*  Note.  —  A  careful  analysis  of  the  situation,  which  space  does  not  permit 
elaboration,  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  even  agriculture,  though  affected  most 
seriously  in  the  great  commodities  of  cotton  and  wheat,  in  which  development 
has  been  most  marked,  has  not  in  other  respects  materially  suffered.  Corn, 
cattle,  hogs,  hay,  oats,  barley,  rye,  butter,  cheese,  potatoes,  have  fairly  maintained 
the  average  of  prices  of  ten  or  fifteen  years  ago. 

f  Railway  Mileage  of  the  United  States,  1880—87,801.     1890—163,562. 

X  Soetbeer,  Supply  of  Precious  Metals,  1885. 

§  See  Senate  Report,  No.  986. 


118  Report  of  Proceedings 

To  the  laborer  in  every  department  of  industry,  the  maintenance  of 
our  present  monetary  standard  is  of  supreme  importance.  Even  con- 
ceding that  his  wages  would  eventually  be  nominally  higher  if  paid  in  a 
depreciated  money,  the  processes  of  adjustment  through  which  he  must 
pass  in  the  five  or  ten  years  of  doubt,  and  distrust,  would  be  destructive 
of  every  comfort,  and  involve  the  most  serious  interference  with  steady 
employment.  Disordered  finances  in  all  countries  and  in  all  periods 
produce  only  idleness,  poverty  and  suffering  of  the  masses.  The  strong 
survive,  and  the  weak  go  to  thevwall. 

It  is  the  unerring  record  of  the  history  of  depreciation  in  coin  money, 
from  whatever  cause,  that  the  poorer  classes  are  those  who  suffer  most. 
They  are  less  able  to  understand  the  processes  of  decline,  to  anticipate 
and  follow  them  to  their  logical  results,  in  the  complex  re-adjustments 
of  value  which  are  inevitable.  In  all  these  adjustment  processes,  the 
capitalist  indeed  suffers,  and  by  the  capitalist  I  mean  the  owner  of  fifty 
or  a  hundred  dollars  in  the  savings  bank  or  the  shop  or  on  the  farm,  as 
much  as  the  owner  of  a  thousand  or  many  thousands,  employed  in  the 
larger  industrial  works.  But  the  capitalist  will  suffer  less,  his  difficulties 
be  less  a  hundredfold,  than  those  of  the  laborer  in  any  avocation. 
Fixed  property  can  adjust  itself  far  more  quickly  to  cheap  money  than 
production.  Commodities  from  the  soil  are  always  for  immediate  sale, 
and  in  the  ordinary  course  must  be  sold.  Fixed  capital  can  wait  more 
easily  until  values  are  established  in  new  measures.  The  manufacturer 
may  stop  his  machinery,  the  mine  owner  may  leave  his  coal  in  the  pit  — 
his  iron  or  lead  or  zinc  in  the  earth,  the  fire  may  go  out  at  the  forges 
and  furnaces,  the  ship  remain  anchored  in  the  stream.  Even  through 
the  dark  and  forbidding  path  of  national  bankruptcy,  the  processes  of 
liquidation  are  slow  and  time  is  acquired.  But  the  products  of  the  soil 
and  labor  must  inevitably  accept  from  day  to  day  all  the  fluctuations 
and  uncertain  rates  that  obtain.     They  are  helpless  and  cannot  wait. 

THE    IMMEDIATE    NEED. 

At  no  time  in  the  history  of  the  nation,  in  my  judgment,  has  public 
duty  pointed  the  patriot  citizen  more  clearly  and  unmistakably  in  one 
direction,  than  it  does  to-day  to  the  effort  to  secure  a  comprehensive 
reform  of  our  whole  currency  system,  and  its  establishment  upon  a 
sound,  safe  and  enduring  basis.  We  need,  not  a  patching  up,  we  have 
had  enough  of  that,  but  a  full,  adequate  and'complete  reformation. 
No  part  of  our  country  needs  it  more  than  the  West  and  South. 

Will  it  advance  the  prices  of  wheat,  and  corn,  and  cotton,  and  iron, 
and  lead,  and  cattle,  and  lumber? 

Will  it  increase  the  wages  of  labor,  the  earnings  of  industry  in  all 
its  forms? 

Immediately  and  directly  —  No.  Eventually  —  Yes,  as  surely  as 
the  summer  rains  assure  an  abundant  harvest. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Coyigress.  119 

No  legislation  will  at  once  enable  us  to  get  as  much  per  pound  for 
10.000,000  bales  of  cotton  as  we  got  for  7,000,000,  as  much  per  ton 
for  6,000,000  tons  of  iron  as  we  got  for  4,000,000,  or  so  much  per 
ounce  for  two  thousand  tons  of  silver  as  we  got  for  one  thousand  tons. 

But  there  cannot  be,  there  never  will  be,  a  restoration  of  public  credit 
and  confidence,  promoting  that  increased  consumption,  upon  which 
price  depends,  until  a  sound  and  settled  currency  system  gives  that 
stability,  which  lies  at  the  very  foundation  of  all  prosperity.  Give  it  to 
the  nation  and  hope  will  return. 

The  silent  wheels  will  surely  move  again,  the  mine  deliver  its  wealth 
of  coal  and  iron,  more  precious  far  than  its  gold  or  silver.  The  capital 
of  the  world,  now  abundant  everywhere,  but  idle  and  waiting  its  oppor- 
tunity, will  gain  new  courage  for  new  adventure  here  in  the  great  West. 
New  enterprises  will  spring  into  being,  to  call  for  the  work  of  thousands 
of  busy  hands,  whose  earned  reward  of  honest  labor  will  promote 
increased  consumption  in  a  hundred  varied  ways. 

We  shall  have  such  a  currency  system  in  the  end,  some  day  or  other  — 
in  some  way  or  other.  The  problem  confronting  us  now,  is  simply 
whether  it  is  to  be  reached  by  a  wise,  courageous,  conscientious  and 
thorough  study  of  question,  availing  ourselves  of  the  costly  experience 
of  our  own  and  other  nations,  or  through  a  general  financial  convulsion, 
leading  to  national  bankruptcy,  from  which,  poorer  in  wealth,  but 
richer  in  experience,  our  children  may  build  anew.  Upon  the  courage, 
patience  and  wisdom  of  this  people,  which  never  yet  have  failed  it,  the 
answer  depends. 

There  can  be  no  greater  national  folly  than  to  disturb  an  established 
standard,  to  willfully  launch  out  upon  an  unknown  sea  of  disturbed 
values,  whose  farther  shore  no  human  vision  can  penetrate. 

I  believe  that  we  shall  not  do  so.  Our  people  can  be  made  to  see 
the  truth,  to  know  the  danger,  as  it  is  written  over  and  over  again  in 
the  world's  history.  That  history  contains  no  page  so  undisputed  as  that 
upon  which  is  told  the  trial  and  trouble,  the  loss,  distress  and  suffering, 
brought  about  by  conditions  wherein  uncertainty  of  value  has  pervaded 
the  currency  of  the  nation.  The  great  truth  can  be  brought  home  to 
our  people,  and  to  know  the  danger,  is  to  avoid  it. 

In  the  closing  years  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  England  experienced 
all  the  derangements  of  trade  brought  about  by  a  disturbance  in  the 
value  of  its  silver.  The  decline  had  not  been  occasioned  by  decreased 
market  value  per  ounce,  as  in  the  present  case,  but  by  the  steady  wear 
and  constant  clipping  of  the  silver  coins  in  use.  The  result,  however, 
was  the  same.  Real  value  of  the  coin  was  disturbed.  Twenty-one 
shillings  in  silver  coin  was  not  worth  a  guinea  in  gold  as  the  law  de- 
clared. Twenty-five  or  thirty  of  these  debased  shillings  were  required 
to  buy  a  guinea  sterling. 


120  Report  of  Proceedings 

Macaulay  in  one  of  his  most  graphic  chapters  (chapter  21)  depicts 
the  situation.     I  cannot  forbear  quoting  a  few  paragraphs. 

"  Whether  Whigs  or  Tories,  Protestants  or  Jesuits  were  uppermost,  the 
grazier  drove  his  beast  to  market;  the  cream  overflowed  the  pails  of  Cheshire: 
the  apple  juice  foamed  in  the  presses  of  Herefordshire:  the  piles  of  crockery 
glowed  in  the  furnaces  of  the  Trent :  and  the  barrows  of  coal  rolled  fast  along 
the  timber  railways  of  the  Tyne.  But  when  the  great  instrument  of  Exchange 
became  thoroughly  deranged,  all  trade,  all  industry,  were  smitten  as  with  a 
palsy.  *  *  *  The  evil  was  felt  daily  and  hourly  in  almost  every  place,  and 
by  almost  every  class :  in  the  dairy  and  on  the  threshing  floor,  by  the  anvil  and 
by  the  loom,  on  the  billows  of  the  ocean  and  in  the  depths  of  the  mine.  Noth- 
ing could  be  purchased  without  a  dispute.  Over  every  counter  there  was 
wrangling  from  morning  to  night.  The  workman  and  his  employers  had  a  quar- 
rel as  regularly  as  the  Saturday  came  round.  On  a  fair  day  or  a  market  day, 
the  clamors,  the  reproaches,  the  taunts,  the  curses,  were  incessant;  and  it  was 
well  if  no  booth  was  overturned,  and  no  heads  broken.  No  merchant  would 
contract  to  deliver  goods  without  making  some  stipulation  about  the 
quality  of  the  coin  in  which  he  was  to  be  paid.  Even  men  of  business  were 
often  bewildered  by  the  confusion  into  which  all  pecuniary  transactions  were 
thrown.  The  simple  and  the  careless  were  pillaged  without  mercy  by  the  ex- 
tortioners whose  demands  grew  even  more  rapidly  than  the  money  shrank. 
The  price  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  of  shoes,  of  ale,  of  oatmeal,  rose  fast.  The 
laborer  found  that  the  bit  of  metal,  which,  when  he  received  it,  was  called  a 
shilling,  would  hardly,  when  he  wanted  to  purchase  a  pot  of  beer,  or  a  loaf  of 
rye  bread,  go  as  far  as  a  sixpence.  The  ignorant  and  helpless  were  cruelly 
ground  between  one  class  which  would  give  money  only  by  tale,  and  another 
would  take  it  only  by  weight." 

It  is  a  warning,  —  may  it  not  be  a  prophecy. 

In  the  physical  world  we  seek  to  discover  natural  law,  and  by  making 
our  human  actions  conform,  we  compel  the  great  forces  of  nature  to  be 
our  servants.  Steam,  fire,  electricity,  the  winds,  the  rivers,  the  ocean, 
co-operate  in  promoting  our  purpose.  If  we  neglect  to  conform,  they 
break  forth  in  wide-spread  destruction.  It  is  just  as  true  in  the  eco- 
nomic world.  There  is  a  natural  law  founded  in  our  human  nature.  It 
has  been  worked  out,  and  defined  by  ages  of  costly  experience.  We 
may  recognize  it  in  our  legislation  and  make  it  our  constant  friend  and 
helper.  Antagonized  or  ignored,  it  will  break  the  flimsy  web  of  human 
legislation  as  surely  as  flood,  and  fire,  the  lightning  or  the  cyclone, 
break  the  puny  barriers  which  human  hands  have  reared.  Disaster  will 
follow  in  the  wake  of  the  broken  laws  of  commerce,  just  as  surely  as 
prosperity  and  smiling  peace  will  bless  their  observance. 

No  sentiment,  however  elevated,  not  impulse,  however  generous,  not 
local  interest,  however  commendable,  not  eloquence,  however  impres- 
sive, but  truth  alone 

"  is  still  the  light, 
To  guide  the  nations  groping  on  their  way.  * ' 

(Applause). 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  121 

President  Whitmore  :  As  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee,  I 
desire  to  state  that  the  programme  this  evening  includes  an  address  by 
Congressman  Bryan,  of  Nebraska,  and  Ex-Governor  Anthony,  of  Kan- 
sas. Those  gentlemen  have  both  come  here  at  the  express  invitation 
of  the  committee,  for  this  express  purpose,  and  while  the  programme 
will  have  to  be  somewhat  curtailed,  owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  hour, 
the  committee  trusts  that  the  audience  will  remain  until  the  programme 
is  completed  (calls  for  "Bryan,  Bryan''). 

The  Chairman:  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  members  of  the  Congress,  it 
is  my  pleasure,  and  my  duty  as  well  as  my  pleasure,  to  present  to  you 
the  Hon.  Wm.  J.  Bryan,  who  will  now  address  you  upon  the  money 
question  of  the  day. 

MR.  BRYAN'S  ADDRESS. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  Fellow- Citizens:  In  half  an 
hour,  and  in  half  an  hour  only,  I  am  expected  to  say  what  is  to  be  said 
for  the  silver  cause  to-night.  I  am  glad  that  this  meeting  of  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  Congress  is  held  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  My  attention 
has  been  called  to  the  fact  that  in  this  city,  and  not  very  far  from  the 
place  where  we  now  meet,  the  transfer  was  made  which  gave  to  this 
nation  what  was  known  as  the  "  Louisiana  Purchase,"  wherein  most  of 
the  States  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  country  are  located.  In  this  city, 
where  that  purchase  was  finally  consummated,  in  this  city  which  sits  at 
the  gateway  of  the  west,  we  have  met  to-day  in  convention,  to  discuss 
the  interests  of  this  great  section  of  the  Union. 

The  gentleman  who  has  preceded  me  has  done  the  silver  cause  a 
favor  which  I  only  wish  all  our  opponents  would  do  us.  (Laughter.) 
He  has  boldly  advocated  what  few  of  them  will  dare  to  declare  to  be 
their  purpose.  Our  great  difficulty  has  been  that  we  have  had  to  face 
foes  in  the  dark  and  have  had  to  tear  the  masks  from  hypocrites 
before  we  could  recognize  our  enemies.  We  have  been  compelled  to 
face  men  who  have  pretended  love  for  the  cause  of  bi-metallism,  while 
they  stabbed  it  to  the  death.  But  I  rejoice  that  to-night  we  have 
heard  from  an  opponent  who  holds  before  you  the  glittering  hope  of  an 
universal  gold  standard !  He  holds  out  no  promise  of  international  bi-met- 
allism, no  hope  for  silver,  but  says  that  natural  laws  are  driving  out 
the  white  metal  and  bringing  an  intelligent  world  to  the  use  of  gold  as 
the  only  real  money  —  unless,  possibly,  silver  can  be  used  as  pennies 
and  nickels  are  now.  That  is  the  issue,  my  friends.  That  is  the  issue 
which  gives  us  this  great  Trans-Mississippi  Congress ;  it  is  the  issue 
which  comes  before  the  people  of  the  United  States ;  it  is  the  issue 
which  comes  before  the  whole  civilized  world,  and  men  are  taking  one 
side  or  the  other  of  this  great  question,  the  question  of  a  single  or  a 
double  standard  for  the  human  race. 


122  Report  of  Proceedings 

I  call  your  attention  —  I  must  speak  briefly  and  very  hurriedly  —  to 
the  fact  that  there  is  a  difference  between  the  interests  of  men  on  this 
subject.  We  sometimes  listen  to  men  who  talk  as  if  most  of  us  were 
sordid  and  base  and  selfish,  but  that  God  had  raised  up  a  few  unselfish 
financiers  to  spread  light  before  the  ignorant.  Who  are  these  unselfish 
men  who  would  teach  us  what  a  sound  currency  is  ?  My  friends,  there 
are  differences  between  the  interests  of  people  in  this  world,  in  this 
country,  and  even  in  this  city.  Let  me  call  attention  to  what  great 
men  have  said,  because  it  might  be  presumptuous  to  give  my  opinion 
only  against  the  opinion  of  a  financier.  Let  me  tell  you  what  men  have 
said,  whose  names  you  know  and  whose  opinions  you  respect.  Let 
me  read  you  what  Mr.  Blaine  said  about  the  destruction  of  silver, 
my  friends,  because  it  is  the  destruction  of  silver  we  are  to  meet 
now  —  it  is  not  international  bi-metallisin.  It  is  not  the  restoration 
of  silver,  delayed  for  a  little  while,  but  it  is  the  complete  destruc- 
tion of  silver  that  we  have  to  face  (reading).  "The  destruction  of 
silver  as  money  must  have  a  ruinous  effect  upon  all  forms  of  property, 
except  those  investments  which  yield  a  fixed  return  in  money.  These 
would  be  enormously  enhanced  in  value  and  would  gain  a  dispropor- 
tionate and  unfair  advantage  over  every  other  species  of  property." 

My  friends,  a  moneyed  man  is  as  good  as  anybody  else,  but  I  chal- 
lenge any  man  to  prove  before  an  intelligent  audience  that  a  moneyed 
man  is  not  as  selfish  as  any  other  man.  Mr.  Blaine  says  that  the  de- 
struction of  silver  as  money  would  give  to  those  who  have  fixed  invest- 
ments an  enormous  advantage,  that  it  would  enormously  enhance  the 
value  of  their  property,  and  that  they  would  gain  a  disproportionate 
and  unfair  advantage  over  other  kinds  of  property  and  over  people 
owning  other  kinds  of  property.  Do  you  believe,  therefore,  that 
every  man  who  telh  you  he  wants  silver  destroyed  is  an  unselfish 
patriot,  and  wants  it  destroyed  in  the  interest  of  all  the  people?  Or, 
can  you  not  believe,  from  what  you  know  of  men,  that  they  may  be 
selfish  and  that  their  desire  to  destroy  silver  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that 
they  know  that  when  they  do  it,  they  will  gain  an  unfair  advantage 
over  other  people  ? 

Let  me  read  you  what  another  statesman  has  said  (reading) :  — 

M  The  contraction  of  the  currency  is  a  far  more  distressing  operation 
than  Senators  suppose.  To  every  person,  except  a  capitalist  out  of 
debt,  or  a  salaried  officer,  it  is  a  policy  fraught  with  bankruptcy  and 
disaster."  That  is  the  language  of  Senator  Sherman.  To  every  one 
except  a  capitalist  out  of  debt,  that  is  the  excepted  class.  If  it  is  the 
capitalist  out  of  debt  who  will  be  exempt  from  the  dangers  of  bank- 
ruptcy and,  by  the  rise  of  the  value  of  the  dollar  will  gain  an  advan- 
tage —  we  may  ask,  is  he  entirely  unselfish  in  advising  the  destruction 
•X)f  silver  ?     Mr.  Sherman  tells  you  that  the  capitalist  is  interested  in  the 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  123 

destruction  of  silver,  because  he  gains  by  it.  Let  me  read  from 
another  authority:  Mr.  Carlisle  said  in  1878,  "  According  to  my  view 
of  the  subject,  the  conspiracy  which  seems  to  have  been  formed  here 
and  in  Europe" — how  mildly  my  friend  (Mr.  Leighton)  spoke  of  the 
changes  in  Germany  and  other  Countries  —  Mr.  Carlisle  says,  "The 
conspiracy  which  seems  to  have  been  formed  here  and  in  Europe  to  de- 
stroy by  legislation  and  otherwise,  from  three-fourths  to  one-half  of 
the  silver  money  of  the  world  " —  is  what?  National  law?  No!  He 
said,  it  wa3  "the  most  gigantic  crime  of  this  or  any  other  age." 

My  friends,  have  37ou  ever  tried  to  select  the  most  gigantic  crime 
recorded  in  the  pages  of  history?  Try  it,  and  then  think  that  this 
conspiracy  formed  in  this  country  and  in  Europe,  is  the  most  gigantic 
crime  of  all.  But  Mr.  Carlisle  did  not  stop  there.  He  says,  "The 
consummation  of  this  scheme  would  ultimately  entail  more  misery  upon 
the  human  race  than  all  the  wars,  pentilences  and  famines  that  ever 
occurred  in  the  history  of  the  world."     (Applause.) 

Yet,  my  friends,  we  are  told  that  "cheap  money"  gives  to  the 
"  demagogue  "  a  chance.  We  are  told  that  to  advocate  the  restoration 
of  the  gold  and  silver  coinage  of  the  constitution,  is  to  put  one's  self 
upon  the  plane  of  the  ignoramus,  the  man  who  does  not  know  anything 
about  economic  truth  or  financial  principles,  or  if  he  does,  does  not  tell 
you  what  he  thinks ! 

Why  have  we  met  here  to-night?  Why  has  this  convention  been 
called  ?  I  believe  one  of  the  great  reasons  for  it,  is  that  the  people  of 
this  Trans-Mississippi  country  believe  what  Mr.  Carlisle  said  and  that 
they  are  trying  to  prevent  a  misery  which  would  be  greater  than  war, 
pestilence  and  famine.  Be  not  deceived.  As  I  said,  we  are  to  be  con- 
gratulated that  the  issue  has  been  clearly  outlined,  for  now  we  are  on 
ground  where  we  can  fight,  with  the  authority  of  the  great  statesmen 
who  have  spoken  upon  this  subject.  We  are  told  that  it  is  natural  now 
to  eliminate  silver.  The  advocates  of  silver  are  simply  seeking  the 
application  of  natural  laws  to  our  financial  system  —  that  is  all.  I 
have  noticed  in  my  short  life,  that  He  who  made  and  planned  all  things 
has  planned  more  wisely  than  we  can,  and  that  by  following  natural 
laws  we  will  come  nearer  to  the  truth  than  by  following  laws  of  man's 
making  (applause). 

The  Creator,  as  infinite  in  love  as  in  power,  has  supplied  legitimate 
means  for  the  gratification  of  every  human  need.  When  He  implanted 
in  man's  body  the  desire  for  food  He  scattered  over  the  face  of  the 
earth  an  abundance  with  which  to  satisfy  his  hunger ;  when  He  gave 
him  thirst  He  filled  the  ground  with  veins  of  water  and  planted  living 
springs  along  the  hillsides ;  when  He  permitted  weariness  to  creep  over 
the  limbs  of  the  toiler  He  sent  sleep,  "  Tired  nature's  sweet  restorer," 
to  renew  his  strength ;  when  He  gave  to  man  a  mind  capable  of  develop- 


124  Report  of  Proceedings 

merit  and  filled  it  with  a  yearning  for  knowledge  He  placed  within  his 
reach  the  means  of  instruction  and  surrounded  him  with  opportunities 
for  study ;  and  when  He  made  man  a  social  being,  fitted  him  for  com- 
panionship with  his  fellows,  and  fashioned  the  channels  of  trade,  He 
stored  away  in  the  mountains  the  gold  and  silver  needed  for  the 
world's  currency. 

I  may  be  in  error,  but  in  my  humble  judgment  he  who  would  rob 
man  of  his  necessary  food,  or  pollute  the  springs  a-t  which  he  quenches 
his  thirst,  or  steal  away  from  him  his  accustomed  rest,  or  condemn  his 
mind  to  the  gloomy  night  of  ignorance,  is  no  more  an  enemy  of  his 
race  than  the  man  who,  deaf  to  the  entreaties  of  the  poor,  and  blind  to 
the  suffering  he  would  cause,  seeks  to  destroy  one  of  the  money  metals 
given  by  the  Almighty  to  supply  the  needs  of  commerce.  (Prolonged 
apylause. ) 

And  yet,  my  friends,  we  who  ask  that  God's  laws  shall  be  observed 
and  his  bounties  used,  are  told  that  we  are  suggesting  an  innovation.  On 
the  contrary,  he  who  advocates  a  gold  standard,  turns  back  the  history 
of  six  thousand  years.  He  who  would  tell  you  to-day  that  the 
world  has  outgrown  gold  and  silver,  must  tell  you  that  for  thou- 
sands of  years  mankind  has  labored  in  the  dark  and  only  saw  the  light 
when  the  conspiracy  was  formed  "  here  and  in  Europe  to  destroy  by 
legislation  and  otherwise  one-half  of  the  world's  metallic  money." 

My  friend  said  that  if  we  had  a  sound  and  elastic  currency,  a  bank 
currency,  that  we  would  be  all  right  —  that  the  banks  are  safer  than 
they  used  to  be.  I  wish  the  gentleman  would  go  to  Lincoln,  Nebraska, 
and  tell  the  depositors  in  the  Capitol  National  Bank  that  banking  is 
safer  now  than  it  used  to  be.  You  can  scarcely  pick  up  a  newspaper 
but  you  find  that  some  trusted  employe  has  robbed  the  bank  ;  and  yet, 
in  the  Baltimore  plan,  we  are  told  if  we  want  a  good,  sound  currency, 
we  must  let  the  bank  issue  money  to  one-half  of  their  capital  stock  and 
let  the  government  guarantee  it.  I  believe  you  once  had  a  man  in  this 
State,  who  undertook  at  times,  the  collecting  of  the  fares  on  the  rail- 
roads —  came  along  sometimes  and  stopped  the  train  and  collected  the 
fares.  (Laughter.)  I  suppose  he  thought  he  could  do  it  better  than 
the  conductor  could.  And,  my  friends,  I  want  to  impress  upon  you 
the  fact,  that  the  underlying  purpose  that  actuated  Jesse  James,  is  the 
samepurpose  that  actuates  the  demand  for  a  bank  of  issue.  (Cheers  and 
applause.)  Now,  when  I  say  that,  I  do  not  mean  to  compare  a  banker 
to  Jesse  James.  (Laughter.)  What  purpose  actuated  Jesse  James? 
It  was  the  desire  for  money.  What  is  the  purpose  of  the  bank  that 
desires  to  issue  paper  money  ?  It  is  the  desire  for  the  profit ;  that  is 
all.  It  is  the  love  of  money.  The  love  of  money,  we  are  told,  is  the 
root  of  all  evil,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  government  to  lessen  the  evil  as 
much  as  it  can. 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  125 

Jesse  James  sought  money  in  violation  of  law,  the  bank  of  issue  seeks 
money  through  the  aid  of  friendly  legislation. 

I  was  passing  through  Iowa,  not  long  ago,  and  I  saw  some  hogs  root- 
ing" in  a  field,  and  it  took  me  back  to  the  time  when  I  lived  on  a  farm 
and  when  we  used  to  put  rings  in  the  noses  of  the  hogs  —  not  to  keep 
them  from  getting  fat,  but  to  keep  them  from  destroying  more  property 
than  they  were  worth,  while  they  were  fattening.  Now,  my  friends,  an 
idea  is  the  greatest  thing  a  man  can  get  into  his  head,  and  we  gather 
our  ideas  from  everywhere ;  from  an  urchin  upon  the  street  we  may 
gather  an  idea  that  will  turn  the  course  of  a  life.  From  those  hogs, 
rooting  in  the  the  field,  I  got  an  idea  that  will  never  leave  me  as  long  as 
I  live,  and  that  is,  that  one  of  the  duties  of  the  government  is  to  put 
rings  in  the  nose3  of  the  hogs.  (Laughter.)  And,  my  friends,  when  I 
say  this,  I  mean  no  reflection  upon  anybody,  because  we  are  all  hoggish. 
(Laughter.)  I  want  to  admit  for  the  silver  miner  —  I  am  not  one,  I 
never  was  one  and  never  expect  to  be  one  —  I  want  to  admit  that  he  is 
selfish  and  likes  to  see  silver  go  up,  just  as  well  as  the  farmer  likes  to 
see  hogs  grow  fat.  The  farmer  keeps  his  hogs  in  a  pen,  goes  out  and 
looks  at  them  and  sees  them  growing  fat.  He  is  selfish,  but  we  do 
not  condemn  him,  it  is  natural.  Some  men  keep  their  money  in  a  pen, 
they  go  and  look  at  it  and  see  it  getting  fat.  I  do  not  believe  that  a 
financier  who  watches  his  dollars  grow  fatter  every  day  is  any  worse  than 
the  farmer  who  watches  his  hogs  growing  fat,  but  he  is  as  apt  to  enjoy 
the  sight.  But  they  object  to  any  man  who  owns  a  mine  saying  a  word 
about  silver ;  they  say  he  is  selfish,  and  only  wants  silver  used  because 
it  brings  him  a  profit.  May  not  the  financiers  have  a  selfish  interest  in 
the  legislation  he  advocates?  Our  financial  legislation  has  been  con- 
trolled for  twenty-five  years  by  gold  men,  who  have  reaped  where 
they  did  not  sow,  who  have  been  able  to  gather  in  more  than  they 
are  entitled  to,  who  have  been  securing  a  dollar  of  ever  increasing 
size. 

Now,  you  will  have  to  restore  silver,  my  friends ;  there  is  not  enough 
gold  to  do  the  world's  business  with.  My  friend  talks  about  the  sup- 
ply of  gold.  You  might  as  well  try  to  clothe  a  man  in  the  garment  of 
an  infant,  you  might  as  well  try  to  feed  a  grown  person  upon  the  food 
of  a  child,  as  to  attempt  to  supply  a  great  nation  with  the  money  that 
was  sufficient  for  a  small  nation.  It  is  only  four  years  since  Mr.  Sher- 
man said,  we  required  about  fifty  millions  a  year  to  keep  pace  even  with 
population,  and  population  is  not  the  only  factor  to  be  considered.  He 
considered  it  required  something  like  fifty  millions  then.  Where  is  it 
coming  from?  They  repealed  the  Sherman  law  and  have  not  added 
other  money  to  the  circulation.  The  National  Bank  circulation  is  less 
than  it  was  a  year  ago.  But  some  say  that  we  have  enough  money  now 
and  do  not  need  any  more.     They  remind  me  of  my  father-in-law's 


126  Report  of  Proceedings 

assurance.  When  I  was  married,  he  said,  "  William,  while  I  have,  we 
shall  not  both  of  us  want."     (Laughter.) 

Yes,  my  friends,  while  they  have  plenty,  all  will  not  want!  What 
do  some  of  them  know  about  lack  of  money?  A  man  who  has  a  full 
pocket  does  not  always  sympathize  with  the  one  who  does  not  know 
where  the  next  meal  is  coming  from.  What  is  their  test  of  plenty? 
Why,  interest  is  low,  they  say,  therefore,  money  must  be  too  abundant. 
It  has  been  shown  over  and  over  again  by  the  advocates  of  bi-metallism 
that  a  low  rate  of  interest  may  be,  because,  with  on  appreciated  dollar, 
all  enterprise  being  unprofitable  there  is  no  man  who  can  afford  to  bor- 
row money.  Money  stays  in  bank  idle ;  the  rate  of  interest  is  low ; 
and  yet  they  tell  us  that  is  proof  positive  that  we  have  plenty  money 
in  the  country. 

We  are  gradually  throughout  the  world  approaching  the  gold  stand- 
ard. Every  step  of  the  legislation  for  the  last  twenty  years  has  been 
to  increase  the  demand  upon  gold  and  as  it  increases  the  demand  upon 
it  —  it  is  a  natural  law,  the  law  of  supply  and  demand  —  it  increases 
the  purchasing  power  of  each  dollar.  And  what  is  the  result?  Other 
prices  fall.  My  friend  tells  you  that  gold  has  not  risen,  that  a  dollar 
has  not  appreciated.  I  need  not  discuss  that  question  with  him  ;  I  will 
point  him  to  the  Royal  Commission  of  England,  and  to  the  monetary 
Commission  of  Germany,  which  admitted  that  gold  has  risen ;  I  point 
him  to  any  man  who  is  not  interested  himself  in  the  appreciation  of 
money,  and  he  will  tell  him  that  the  value  of  the  dollar  has  risen.  We 
think  we  have  had  hard  times  —  we  have  only  commenced.  Just  a  few 
nations  have  demanded  gold  and  the  result  is  that  gold  has  been. made 
more  precious  and  misery  is  on  the  increase.  What  will  be  the  result 
when  we  drive  India  to  the  gold  standard  and  her  250,000,000  of  peo- 
ple reach  out  after  their  share  of  the  world's  gold?  what  will  be  the  re- 
sult when  we  drive  China  to  the  gold  standard  and  her  almost  countless 
millions  reach  out  after  their  share  of  the  gold  ?  We  simply  put  the 
world's  gold  on  an  auction  block  and  the  people  stand  round  and  bid. 
(Applause.) 

My  friend  says  that  the  laboring  men  will  suffer  from  the  free  coinage 
of  silver.  What  do  they  themselves  say?  We  give  the  ballot  to  the 
individual  because  we  know  that  nobody  can  look  after  his  interests  as 
well  as  he  can  himself.  What  do  the  laboring  men  say  when  speaking 
for  themselves?  Why,  they  have  recently  sent  a  petition  to  Congress, 
signed  by  the  leaders  of  all  the  labor  organizations  of  the  United  States, 
demanding  the  free  coinage  of  silver  at  16  to  1,  and  I  appeal  to  the 
laboring  men  themselves,  to  learn  what  they  want,  rather  than  to  those 
who  assume  to  speak  for  them. 

But,  my  time  is  up,  I  think ;  I  only  have  two  or  three  minutes 
(cries  of  "  Go  on,  Go  on").     No,  my  friends,  Governor  Anthony  has 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  127 

to  follow  me  and  it  would  not  be   fair  for   me  to   encroach  upon   his 
time. 

I  will  take  about  two  minutes  more.  Now,  there  are  two  or  three 
phases  of  the  question,  and  I  wish  I  had  an  hour  on  each.  (Cries  of 
"Take  an  hour.")  Not  now,  we  will  have  some  time  to  discuss  this 
question  when  it  comes  up  on  the  resolutions  and  I  may  have  a  chance 
to  speak  them.  There  are  three  suggestions  which  I  have  to  make :  as 
to  ratio,  quantity  and  independent  action.  There  is  no  prominent 
advocate  of  free  coinage  who  is  advocating  any  ratio  but  16  to  1.  If 
you  have  it  at  all,  you  will  have  to  take  it  at  16  to  1.  Will  you  have 
unlimited  coinage,  or  a  limited  coinage?  My  friends,  true  bi-metallism 
means  that  the  value  of  a  dollar  shall  be  regulated  not  by  artificial 
laws,  but  by  natural  laws  of  supply  and  demand,  and  that  every  ounce 
of  gold  and  silver  that  comes  from  the  mines  shall  be  permitted  to  go 
into  the  currency.  I  am  in  favor,  not  only  of  the  free  coinage  of  silver, 
but  of  the  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  at  the  ratio  of  16  to  1.  Our 
opponents  are  great  obstructive  statesmen,  but  they  are  not  constructive 
statesmen.  They  find  fault  but  do  not  propose  to  restore  silver  at  any 
ratio  or  in  any  way.  They  simply  object  to  what  others  propose.  And 
now  the  last  question.  Shall  we  act  alone,  or  wait  for  some  foreign 
nation  to  help  us?  —  that,  my  friends,  is,  perhaps,  the  most  immediate 
question  we  have  to  face.  Most  of  our  enemies  to-day  call  themselves 
international  bi-metallists.  Mr.  Hendricks  of  Brooklyn,  in  a  recent 
speech  in  Congress,  said  that  if  we  would  repeal  the  Sherman  law,  in 
three  months  England  would  be  asking  us  for  an  international  agree- 
ment. The  Sherman  law  was  repealed.  You  remember  the  prosperity 
that  followed?  (Laughter.)  We  waited  three  months  and  England  did 
not  come ;  we  waited  three  months  longer,  and  three  months  longer, 
and  now  we  have  waited  a  year  and  England  has  not  come,  and  we  are 
still  patiently  waiting.  These  are  the  people  who  do  not  want  bi- 
metallism at  all.  They  tell  you  the  gold  standard  is  the  natural  stand- 
ard, and  that  it  must  come. 

I  appeal  to  your  patriotism.  If  we  have  some  in  this  country  who 
know  more  about  the  sunny  skies  of  Italy  than  about  the  invigorating 
breezes  of  the  Western  prairies  and  who  receive  their  inspiration  from 
other  lands,  let  it  be  known  that  there  are  people  between  the  Alle- 
ghanies  and  the  Golden  Gate  who  are  willing  to  trust  their  all  to  this 
Republic  and  rise  or  fall  with  it.  And  these  people,  whom  we  repre- 
sent, though  delayed  over  and  over  again,  are  contending  for  the 
restoration  of  the  gold  and  silver  coinage  of  the  Constitution,  and  are 
ready  to  declare  now  in  favor  of  the  immediate  restoration  of  the  free 
and  unlimited  coinage  of  gold  and  silver  at  the  present  ratio  of  16  to  1 
without  waiting  for  the  aid  or  consent  of  any  other  nation  on  earth 
(applause  and  loud  cheers). 


1 28  Report  of  Proceedings 

The  Chairman  :  Before  introducing  the  next  speaker,  I  desire  to 
make  an  announcement.  The  Conference  on  Free  Coinage  will  have  a 
meeting  to-morrow  morning  at  nine  o'clock,  at  the  Southern  Hotel. 
All  friends  of  free  coinage  are  invited  to  meet  them  there. 

I  now  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  to  you,  Governor  Anthony, 
of  Kansas,  who  will  also  speak  on  the  Silver  Question. 


ADDRESS  OF   GOV.   ANTHONY. 

Mr.  President.,  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Congress:  I  arise  before  you 
to-night  under  a  heavy  burden,  a  darker  cloud  of  embarrassment  than 
ever  rested  upon  me  before  at  the  entrance  upon  a  like  undertaking. 
You  have  been  listening  for  hours  to  able,  wise  men;  and  I  may  say, 
with  no  intended  disrespect,  to  plausible,  ingenious  men,  on  the  pend- 
ing subject  of  discussion, — the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  at 
the  mints  of  the  United  States.  You  have  just  been  held  to  this  late 
hour  of  the  night  by  the  matchless  eloquence  of  the  orator  and  states- 
man of  Nebraska,  Congressman  Bryan,  who  has  woven  a  web  of  sym- 
pathy about  you  until  some  of  this  great  audience  have  clamored  for 
him  to  continue,  and  occupy  the  time  allotted  to  me.  To  follow  him, 
and  his  almost  irresistible  attractions  of  the  finished  orator,  is  indeed 
an  embarrassing  task.  But,  gentlemen,  there  are  mitigating  circum- 
stances that  greatly  reduce  my  fears,  and  put  me  quite  at  ease.  You 
will  all  remember  that  Mr.  Bryan  was  the  late  candidate  of  two  politi- 
cal parties  in  his  State  for  United  States  Senator,  on  a  distinctively  free 
silver  platform.  They  designated  him  in  separate  conventions  to  go  out 
as  their  trusted  representative.  In  this  capacity  he  went  from  school- 
house  to  schoolhouse,  from  rostrum  to  rostrum,  all  over  his  State,  with 
an  appeal,  a  portion  of  which  you  have  heard  from  him  here  to-night, 
for  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver,  as  the  cure  for  all  their  finan- 
cial ills. 

Eesponding  to  an  invitation  from  citizens  of  Nebraska,  it  came  to  be 
my  lot  to  follow  the  rhetoric  and  captivating  eloquence  of  Mr.  Bryan, 
as  I  am  called  upon  to  do  to-night,  with  my  plain,  prosy  statement  of 
great  fundamental  truths.  Since  then  the  people  of  Mr.  Bryan's  State 
have  passed  upon  the  merits  of  his  contention  for  free  silver,  and 
decided,  by  some  15,000  majority,  that  they  do  not  want  him  as  an 
advocate  of  financial  heresies  to  misrepresent  them  in  the  counsels  of 
the  nation.  It  is  not  alone  my  own  judgment,  but  a  sublime  faith  in 
the  ultimate  fruits  of  wisdom  in  the  common  people,  that  gives  me 
courage  to  speak  to  you  as  I  shall  speak  to-night. 

It  were  not  strange  that  you  should  be  nettled  and  weary  from  what 
you  seem  to  have  borne  with  such  close  attention  since  early  this  after- 
noon, and  until   this   late   hour.     You  have   been   fairly  stuffed  with 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  129 

statistics  and  crammed  with  figures,  foreign  and  domestic.  You 
have  had  comparison  of  weights  and  measures,  of  weights  and 
measures  of  substance  and  value,  and  all  woven  together  with 
strings  of  silver  and  strands  of  gold,  in  a  fabric  as  wide  as  the 
world  and  as  long  as  time.  Indeed,  at  the  close  of  that  wonderful 
address  of  my  friend,  Governor  Prince,  I  was  so  full  of  figures 
that  I  could  feel  them  struggling  to  get  out  through  the  skin  all 
over  me.  I  am  not  sure  that  each  of  you  was  not  near  the  fate  of  the 
poor  man  who  trifled  with  a  new  invention.  Your  time  is  too  valuable 
to  waste  upon  amusing  stories,  but  this  one  seems  so  pertinent  and 
illustrative  that  it  must  be  told.  . 

It  was  down  on  that  portion  of  the  Massachusetts  coast  where  the 
herring-fish  is  the  chief  food  of  the  people,  and  you  who  have  tried  to 
gather  sustenance  for  the  body  from  the  bones  of  this  fearfully  and 
wonderfully  made  fish  will  understand  how  they  had  to  work  for  a 
living.  An  inventive  genius  came  to  their  relief  by  the  construction  of  a 
machine  to  eat  herring  with.  They  put  the  fish  in  a  hopper,  and  on 
turning  a  crank  the  bones  went  out  one  way,  and  the  meat  into  one's 
mouth  the  other  way.  The  inventor  was  fairly  canonize^  as  a  public 
benefactor,  no  one  dreaming  that  so  innocent  and  valuable  a  device 
could  work  harm  to  any  one.  But  there  came  up  to  it  one  day  a 
hungry,  left-handed  man,  put  his  mouth  to  it  and  seizing  the  crank 
with  his  left  hand,  turned  it  the  wrong  way,  and  it  filled  him  so  full  of 
bones  that  his  clothes  could  not  be  taken  off,  and  they  had  to  bury 
him  robed  as  he  fell  (laughter).  Governor  Prince,  and  the  young 
gentleman  from  Colorado  who  preceded  him,  seem  to  have  taken  the 
statistical  crank  with  their  left  hands,  and  turned  it  the  wrong  way, 
giving  their  hungry  listeners  bones  instead  of  meat,  leaving  us  in  a  con- 
dition hardly  better  than  the  victim  of  the  herring  machine  (applause). 

Be  assured  that  your  miseries  shall  not  be  further  magnified  in  this 
direction.  You  shall  not  be  asked  to  follow  me  in  meaningless  math- 
ematical combinations  to  confuse,  nor  in  the  mazy  wilderness  of 
theory  and  speculation  to  bewilder  and  mislead  you.  It  is  my  ambi- 
tion to  bring  the  business  proposition  of  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage 
of  silver  by  our  mints,  at  the  ratio  of  16  of  silver  to  1  of  gold,  to  the 
test  of  common  sense,  the  common  solvent  to  which  this  and  all  kin- 
dred questions  must  in  the  end  be  submitted  for  solution  and  settle- 
ment. Neither  appeals  to  interest  and  passion,  resort  to  sophistry  and 
eloquence,  nor  the  quoting  of  what  some  impassioned  theorist  has  said 
about  it  in  Great  Britain,  or  anywhere  else,  can  aid  you  in  passing 
a  correct  judgment,  or  protect  our  country  from  the  results  of  unwise 
action  on  so  great  a  problem. 

First  and  fundamentally,  then,  let  us  find  what  the  duties  and  powers 
of  the  government  are  in  this  relation.     It  will  be  admitted  that  the 


130  .  Report  of  Proceedings 

power  of  a  government  cannot  be  greater  than  that  of  the  source  from 
which  it  is  derived,  and  that  the  sources  of  governmental  power  are, 
and  ever  must  be,  limited  to  three.  First.  The  power  of  might,  of 
superior  physical  force.  This  is  a  form  of  despotism  based  on  the 
theory  that  might  makes  right,  and  that  the  strong  may  rule  the  weak 
because  they  can  do  so.  Second.  The  divine  right  of  rule,  a  theocratic 
government,  based  upon  the  assumption  that  man  is  incapable  of 
maintaining  or  governing  himself,  and  is  dependent  upon  his  Creator, 
God,  for  both  care  and  control,  under  a  crowned  ruler,  divinely 
ordained  and  set  above  human  impeachment  or  dictation.  Our  gov- 
ernment is  based  upon  the  third,  and  only  remaining  theory:  Self- 
government,  absolute  sovereignty  in  the  enfranchised  citizen,  as  the 
unit  of  governmental  power,  and  a  majority  of  these  units  of  original 
power  the  ruling  monarch,  charged  with  every  duty  and  responsibility 
involved  in  the  framing  and  administration  of  human  enactment  in  the 
form  of  law.  It  is  based  upon  the  claim  that  the  human  race  is  endowed 
with  the  attributes  of  wisdom,  justice  and  mercy,  equal  to  their  own 
government  and  regulation  as  communities,  and  provided  with  ability 
and  industrial  impulse  equal  to  self-care  and  maintenance  as  individuals. 
In  brief,  we  have  anchored  a  government  in  a  belief  that  every  human 
being,  in  normal  development,  is  a  self-governing,  self-supporting 
entity ;  requiring  no  outside  power  to  control,  no  intervening  paternal- 
ism to  support ;  that  all  the  government  required  or  justified  relates  to 
community  interests  and  their  regulation  and  control;  and  that  "all 
just  powers  of  government  are  derived  from  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned themselves,"  as  expressed  in  the  Immortal  Declaration  of  the 
fathers  and  founders  of  it. 

As  a  matter  of  immovable  fact,  then,  this  government  had  no  orig- 
inal existence,  no  inherent  power  resting  on  the  law  of  superior  might, 
or  of  divine  right.  It  was  called  into  existence  as  the  agent  of  the 
people  to  meet  an  admitted  necessity  of  community  life.  Its  every 
power  is  a  delegated,  representative  power  ;  an  inherent  power  of  the 
individual,  surrendered  voluntarily  to  the  government  for  community 
use.  The  government  of  the  United  States  has  no  power,  no  preroga- 
tive or  privilege,  in  peace  or  in  war,  that  is  not  inherent  and  absolute 
in  the  individual  citizen  for  his  use  in  the  maintenance  of  himself,  in 
his  right  to  'k  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness. "  The  govern- 
ment is  but  the  aggregation  of  the  surrendered  powers  of  the  individual 
citizens  included  in  the  governmental  compact,  and  when  it  attempts 
to  go  beyond  this  it  is  usurpation  —  revolution.  The  citizen  is  not  the 
waif  to  be  cared  for  under  the  obligation  of  paternalism  by  the  govern- 
ment, but  the  government  is  the  thing  created,  a  helpless  child  of  the 
people,  to  be  fed,  cared  for  and  protected  by  them. 

Bear  with  me  in  an  illustration  or  two,  showing  that  our  govern- 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  131 

ment  in  its  sphere  of  duty  is  but  the  peer  of  the  citizen  in  his, 
and  must  be  governed  by  the  rules  and  limitations  fixed  by  the  natural 
rights  of  the  individual.  If  on  to-morrow  the  government  comes 
to  this  city  to  trade  in,  or  purchase,  property,  does  it  come  with 
any  prestige  or  privilege  relating  to  such  transactions  not  common  to 
every  one  in  this  city  and  country  ?  It  wants  cloth,  and  finds  it  on 
sale.  The  merchant  asks  a  dollar  a  yard  for  it ;  the  government  offers 
fifty  cents,  which  is  refused ;  whereupon  the  accredited  officer  of  the 
government  says  to  him:  "  By  authority  and  direction  of  the  Govern-, 
ment  of  the  United  States  I  command  you,  sir,  to  deliver  this  cloth  at 
the  price  it  has  offered  you."  Does  the  merchant  obey  this  command? 
No,  he  simply  tells  the  Government  to  "  get  out  "  and  give  room  for 
other  customers.  But  cloth  is  finally  found  and  price  mutually  deter- 
mined, the  invoice  calling  for  a  thousand  dollars.  The  officer  writes 
on  a  slip  of  paper:  M  Due  the  bearer  hereof  one  thousand  dollars  "  and 
signs  it  by  authority  of  the  Government.  The  merchant  refuses  to  ac- 
cept it,  saying:  "My  goods  are  cash,  pay  me  money,  or  if  you  want 
them  on  time,  that  period  must  be  fixed  and  expressed,  together  with  a 
rate  of  interest  until  it  matures  and  is  paid."  The  government  then 
assumes  the  power  claimed  for  it  by  our  free-silver-fiat  friends,  and 
hands  out  another  bit  of  paper,  silver  or  alluminium,  on  which  is  en- 
graved or  printed  the  legend:  "  This  is  one  thousand  dollars,  its  value 
created  by  act  of  Congress,  without  regard  to  the  value  of  the  material 
from  which  it  is  made ;  without  promise  or  obligation  to  pay,  and  a 
full  legal- tender  for  all  debts  and  obligations,  public  and  private." 
Signed:   "  Carlyle,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury." 

How  long  would  it  take  the  merchant  to  again  tell  the  Government  to 
"  get  out,  "  and  if  met  by  insolence  to  put  him  out?  Not  a  minute! 
He  would  fall  back  upon  the  fundamental  fact  that  the  Government  can 
no  more  make  something  out  of  nothing,  and  make  that  nothing  a 
legal-tender,  than  can  he,  or  any  other  citizen,  do  the  same  thing. 
True  it  is,  that  in  assuming  this  attitude  the  merchant  incurs  the  risk 
of  being  classed  by  Mr.  Bryan  with  "  gold  bugs,"  but  it  will  be  found 
that  this  government  will  not  be  one-half  strong  enough  to  "  put  a  ring 
in  his  nose"  as  the  distinguished  statesman  suggested  should  be  done 
(applause  and  laughter). 

But  you  may  have  been  startled  at  the  declaration,  that  the  war 
power  of  the  government  is  a  delegated  power,  original  in  the  citizen, 
with  the  right  to  use  it  at  all  times  for  the  protection  of  himself, 
and  under  precisely  the  same  conditions  prescribed  for  its  use  by  the 
government  for  the  people,  as  a  political  body.  Let  us  see,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent: If  I  invade  your  premises  unbidden  by  you,  I  am  a  trespasser; 
if  I  take  from  those  premises  property  without  your  consent,  I  am  a 
thief ;  if   I   break  its  fastenings  and  enter  your  house  by  force  in  your 


132  Report  of  Proceedings 

absence,  I  am  a  burglar  ;  and  over  against  each  of  these  lawless  acts  is 
set  a  heavy  penalty  for  my  punishment.  But,  sir,  if  my  life  is  put  in 
danger  by  the  assault  of  manor  beast,  I  can  then  seek  your  premises  for 
protection,  and  am  not  a  trespasser  ;  I  may  take  any  article  or  thing  found 
of  yours  on  those  premises,  for  my  defense,  and  am  not  a  thief ;  and  if 
need  be  I  can  break  down  your  doors  and  make  your  house  a  castle  for 
my  defense,  and  I  am  not  a  burglar.  And  why?  Because  the  para- 
mount duty  of  man  is  to  protect  that  which  is  paramount  in  man  —  his 
own  life  ;  and  before  that  duty,  the  right  and  all  considerations  of  prop- 
erty ownership  and  use  must  give  way.  This  is  the  war  power  of  the 
individual,  in  its  relation  to  the  property  rights  of  others ;  and  here  is 
the  source  and  origin  of  the  war  power  of  the  United  States  of  America ; 
a  delegated  power  for  public  use.  When  the  life  of  the  nation  is 
assailed  by  foes  without  or  within,  then  it  may  come  to  your  merchants 
for  their  goods  ;  to  the  farmer  for  his  grain  and  animals  ;  to  the  toiler 
for  his  labor,  and  it  need  not  higgle  about  prices  or  terms  of  pay,  but 
take  that  which  it  finds  and  needs,  to  be  settled  and  paid  for  as  best 
can  be  done  when  the  danger  is  passed  and  the  life  of  the  government 
saved  from  peril.  Again,  let  me  say,  that  every  power  and  prerogative 
of  a  republic  must  respond  to,  and  come  as  a  trust  from,  the  individual, 
environed  by  the  same  law  of  limitation  that  governs  their  use  in  the 
hands  of  their  original  possessor. 

No  one  will,  I  think,  question  this  analysis  of  popular  government, 
nor  dispute  the  source  and  limitation  of  its  powers  as  I  have  defined 
them.  Now  let  us  put  this  proposed  governmental  scheme  of  free  and 
unlimited  coinage  of  gold  and  silver  into  legal- tender  money,  at  a  fixed 
ratio  of  sixteen  to  one,  to  the  test  of  comparison  with  the  right  and 
power  of  the  government  to  put  it  into  execution. 

On  May  20th,  1890,  Senator  Jones,  of  Nevada,  in  addressing  the 
Senate  upon  this  subject,  said  of  coin  money :  — 

11  Its  value  does  not  arise  from  the  intrinsic  qualities  which  the  material  of 
which  it  is  made  may  possess,  but  depends  entirely  on  the  intrinsic  qualities 
which  law  or  general  consent  may  confer." 

About  the  same  time  Senator  Peff er  said :  — 

"  It  matters  not  of  what  money  is  made,  or  what  its  intrinsic  value  is.  What 
gives  value  to  the  coins  is  law,  nothing  else." 

Here  antipodes  meet  in  agreement  as  to  facts,  but  in  irreconcilable 
antagonism  as  to  results  desired.  Senator  Jones  seeks  refuge  behind 
this  definition  of  the  word  money,  in  the  interest  of  a  silver-producing 
constituency,  and  to  the  end  that  the  government  might  take  from 
them  a  half  dollar's  worth  of  silver,  or  less,  and  declare  it  a  legal-tender 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  133 

dollar,  when  coined  and  returned  to  them,  free  of  charge  or  cost  for 
coinage.  Senator  Peffer  was  airing  one  of  his  fiat  money  vagaries,  in 
the  interest  of  a  debtor  constituency.  The  one  a  cool,  calculating 
schemer  for  personal  gain,  at  the  ultimate  cost  of  the  people,  the  other 
an  unbalanced  theorist,  seeking  to  escape  honest  obligations  through 
legislative  jugglery.  The  one  a  silver  monometallist,  the  other  a  silver 
destructionist.  Oh,  what  a  consistent  pair  of  twins  for  government 
adoption  (applause). 

Each  of  these  gentlemen  has  doubtless  grown  in  the  grace  of  social- 
istic despotism  since  these  utterances.  But  as  to  this,  Senator  Peffer 
has  not  left  us  in  doubt,  as  we  may  learn  by  reference  to  the  Congres- 
sional Record.  On  August  16th,  1893,  Mr.  Peffer  introduced  Senate 
Bill  No.  486,  from  which  I  read :  — 

"  Whereas,  a  nation  that  can  make  good  bonds  can  make  better  money; 
and  Whereas,  a  nation  that  can  make  a  dollar  on  gold  can  make  another  dollar 
on  alluminum,  or  on  paper;  and  Whereas,  a  nation  that  won't  or  can't  pay  its 
debts  has  no  right  to  exist  on  earth;  and  Whereas,  Congress  can  coin  money 
to  pay  its  debts  in  six  months.  Therefore,  be  it  enacted,  that  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  be  directed  to  prepare  six  hundred  million  dollars  ($600,000,000) 
of  declaratory,  not  promissory  —  full,  not  partial  —legal-tender  money  of  this 
republic,  of  various  denominations,  on  sheets  of  alluminum  or  silk-threaded 
paper,  as  the  people  may  prefer,  and  then  forthwith  call  all  the  outstanding 
interest-bearing  bonds  of  the  United  States  for  immediate  redemption,  and 
pay  for  them  with  this  said  surplus  money." 

Again  on  Oct.  6th,  i893,  Mr.  Peffer  introduced  Senate  Bill  No. 
1050,  from  which  I  read  the  following :  — 

"  Sec.  3.  Gold  and  silver  shall  be  coined  at  the  mints  of  the  republic,  at  a 
ratio  of  one  in  gold  to  sixteen  in  silver." 

"  Sec.  4.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  coin  a  sufficient  amount  of  full 
legal-tender  paper  money  to  make  up  the  sum  of  six  billion  dollars  ($6,000,000,- 
000)  and  cover  the  same  into  the  treasury." 

You  may  be  curious  to  know  for  what  purpose  this  trifling  sum  of 
paper  money  was  to  be  coined,  and  how  made  available  to  the  people. 
Here  you  have  it,  in  the  section  following :  — 

u  That  the  sum  of  six  hundred  million  dollars  ($600,000,000)  be  appropriated 
to  each  of  the  States  and  Territories,  in  pro  rata  ratio  to  inhabitants,  for  public 
improvements ;  and  all  persons  offering  their  services  to  any  State  or  Territory 
shall  be  given  employment  at  four  dollars  ($4.00)  per  day  of  eight  hours  work." 

As  1  have  said,  I  do  not  know  whether  Senator  Jones  has  kept  pace 
with  Senator  Peffer  or  not,  nor  do  I  know  whether  the  free  silver  advo- 
cates in  this  Congress  are  ripe  as  this  yet,  or  not.  But,  gentlemen,  it 
is  the  logic  of  the  situation,  the  end  to  which  the  doctrine  of  free  and 


134  Report  of  Proceedings 

unlimited  coinage  will  surely  carry  you.  If  it  is  within  the  province 
and  power  of  this  government  to  coin  and  certify  a  piece  of  metai  as  a 
dollar,  and  send  it  out  as  a  legal  tender,  that  contains  metal  worth  a 
single  cent  less  than  a  dollar  —  as  uncoined  metal,  a  commodity  in  the 
open  markets  of  the  world  —  without  accompanying  it  with  a  pledge  of 
redemption,  then  Senator  Peffer  is  right  when  he  says,  that  "  a  gov- 
ernment that  can  make  a  dollar  on  gold,  can  make  another  dollar  on 
alluminum  or  paper."  Then  it  becomes  senseless,  idiotic,  to  mine 
gold  or  silver,  to  be  wasted  in  coinage,  when  the  substitution  of  allu- 
minum and  paper  for  coinage  will  give  us  coin-money  of  equal  value 
with  those  precious  metals.  Then  the  declaration  of  one  of  the  lead- 
ing journals  sustaining  free  coinage  and  fiat  paper  money,  in  my  State, 
will  become  axiomatic.     It  said :  — 

"  The  monumental  idiocy  of  the  age  is  in  the  fact  that  governments  have 
been  foolish  enough  to  borrow  money,  instead  of  makiDg  it." 

But  this  definition  of  money  as  the  creation  of  law,  instead  of  the 
embodiment  or  pledge  of  value,  together  with  all  the  fatal  financial 
fallacies  and  false  hopes  to  which  it  leads,  can  find  no  support  in  rea- 
son, nor  justification  in  the  genius  of  our  government  or  the  constitu- 
tion of  our  country.  Noah  Webster,  who  has  never  been  suspected  of 
having  mining  interests  or  fiat  money  fallacies  to  prejudice  him,  gave 
this  simple  and  comprehensive  definition  of  the  word,  "Money:" 
"Wealth,  affluence." 

My  contention  is  that  all  money,  whether  possessory  or  promissory, 
that  is  made  a  legal-tender  by  force  of  law,  must  come  up  to  this  defi- 
nition. It  must  be  "wealth,  affluence."  It  must  either  be  coined 
from  a  metal  the  purchasing  power  of  which,  by  reason  of  its  intrinsic 
value  as  a  commodity  on  the  market,  will  be  and  remain  co-equal  with 
its  legal-tender,  debt-paying  power ;  or,  it  must  be  in  the  form  of  a 
bill  of  credit,  a  promise  to  pay  and  redeem  in  money  of  possessory 
value  on  demand.  To  make  such  promissory  notes  worthy  of  confi- 
dence, and  to  justify  their  use  as  representative  money,  "  wealth, 
affluence  "  must  be  put  in  escrow,  ample  for  their  redemption,  the 
government,  National  or  State,  becoming  the  custodian  of  such  security. 
Lawful  money,  then,  must  consist  of  value  within  and  of  itself;  coin 
money,  the  material  of  which  is  worth  as  much  as  the  coin  itself,  and 
therefore  requiring  no  intervening  obligation  for  its  redemption,  or  it 
may  be  evidence  of  debt  in  the  form  of  a  promise  to  redeem  on  de- 
mand, dollar  for  dollar,  in  self-redeeming,  coin  money. 

This  government  has  no  right,  no  power  short  of  usurpation,  to  issue 
coined  m  oney  as  a  legal  tender  without  its  expressed  valu  e  being  contained 
in  the  material  of  which  it  is  made ;  nor  to  authorize  the  issue  of  credit 
money  without  "  affluence  "  —  abundant  wealth  —  held  in  trust  for  its 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  135 

certain  and  prompt  redemption.  It  may  coin  "tokens"  for  use  as 
cbange-money,  with  less  intrinsic  than  nominal  value,  such  as  the 
copper  cen  t  and  nickel  five-cent  tokens  and  subsidiary  coins,  their 
legal-tender  qualities  being  limited  an  d  their  redemption  provided  for 
in  the  law  authorizing  their  coinage.     Beyo  nd  this  it  cannot  go. 

The  wise  and  thoughtful  men  who  framed  our  Constitution  foresaw 
the  necessity  of  a  fixed  and  uniform  standard  of  weight  and  measure  in 
the  interchange  of  property  and  commodities.  They  recognized  also 
the  equal  necessity  of  a  like  measure  of  the  value  of  property  and  com- 
modity in  such  exchanges.  Hence,  in  Sec.  8,  Art.  1,  of  that  instru- 
ment, they  gave  to  Congress  the  power  "  to  coin  money,  regulate  the 
value  thereof,  and  of  foreign  coins,  and  fix  the  standard  of  weights  and 
measures."  This  means,  if  it  means  anything,  that  Congress  was  to 
provide  a  fixed  unit  of  distance,  weight,  bulk  and  value,  to  be  accepted 
and  respected  by  all  the  people  in  their  trade  relations.  Then  why 
was  the  power  to  ••  regulate"  one  of  these  measures  given,  and  with- 
held from  the  others,  when  all  of  them  were  required  to  be  fixed  meas- 
ures in  order  to  meet  the  demands  of  their  creation?  The  answer  is 
plain  and  simple.  The  measure  of  distance  and  substance  could  be 
"fixed"  by  reason  of  the  rigidity  and  steadfastness  of  the  material  of 
which  they  were  made.  A  yard  stick  would  always  measure  a  yard ; 
the  bushel  measure  would  always  hold  a  bushel,  and  the  pound  weight, 
weigh  a  pound  in  the  balance.  But  value  was  an  immaterial  thing,  an 
unknown  and  variable  quantity,  depending  upon  laws  and  conditions 
beyond  the  power  of  governments  to  enact  or  control.  They  believed, 
as  I  do,  that  a  stick  with  which  to  measure  a  yard  must  be  as  long  as 
the  legal  unit  of  measure  it  was  made  to  determine;  that  a  peck 
measure  must  contain  a  peck;  a  pound  weight  weigh  a  pound, 
and  the  measure  of  a  dollar  in  value  must  possess  a  dollar 
of  value.  They  never  .  dreamed  that  value  could  be  measured 
without  value  in  the  measure,  more  than  distance  could  be  meas- 
ured without  length  in  the  rod  or  chain  it  was  measured  by. 
Hence  the  power  to  "to  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  of  foreign 
coins."  It  was  to  fix  a  measure  of  value  from  the  most  stable  com- 
modity known,  so  regulated  as  to  have  a  coincident  commercial  and 
legal  value ;  and  to  regulate  the  value  of  foreign  coin  by  determining 
the  relative  weight  and  fineness  of  them  and  our  own,  and  making 
public  proclamation  of  what  each  denomination  of  foreign  coin  was 
worth  to  its  owner,  as  money  or  as  bullion.  In  the  exercise  of  this 
regulating  power  judgment  cannot  err,  nor  caprice  prevail,  without 
prompt  exposure.  If  the  material  in  a  money  coin  is  valued  less  than 
its  commercial  value,  it  will  be  demonetized  at  once  and  fall  to  the  con- 
dition of  merchandise,  If  it  is  over- valued  it  will  circulate  as  money 
at  its  face  value  in  the  payment  of  debts  just  so  far  as  it  can  be  forced 


136  Report  of  Proceedings 

by  mandate  of  law,  but  in  purchases  it  will  be  made  to  conform  to  its 
bullion  value,  by  an  added  amount,  equal  to  its  shortage,  in  the  price 
of  whatever  is  purchased  with  it.  It  will,  however,  be  just  as  fictitious 
and  dishonest  a  measure  of  value  as  would  be  a  yard-stick,  less  than 
thirty  six  inches,  as  a  measure  of  cloth. 

But  now  comes  the  Jones-Peffer-Free-Silver-Fiat  school  of  states- 
men, and  declares  that  value  in  money  is  the  creation  of  law  ;  that  the 
legend  stamped  upon  412J  grains  of  silver,  or  upon  25T%  grains  of 
gold  at  the  mint,  if  stamped  upon  an  equal  surface  of  alluminum  or 
paper,  would  give  to  these  comparatively  worthless  materials  the  same 
instrinsic  value  as  the  silver  and  gold.  That  "  a  Government  that  can 
make  a  good  bond  can  make  better  money,' '  and  of  course  would  be  a 
very  great  fool  to  make  a  bond,  or  provide  for  the  coinage  of  silver  or 
gold  at  any  ratio.  To  meet  the  case,  the  constitution  should  read : 
u  Congress  shall  have  power  to  create  money  and  determine  its  value,  to 
print  or  stamp  the  legend, '  this  is  a  dollar,'  without  regard  to  the  value 
of  the  thing  upon  which  it  is  printed  or  stamped,  and  it  shall  immediately 
become  a  dollar,  in  fact  and  in  intrinsic  value.' ' 

You  may  esteem  this  line  of  argument  far  from  the  subject  in  handr 
but  if  you  will  trust  me  in  patience  to  lay  this  foundation,  I  will  under- 
take to  place  our  subject  upon  it  a  little  later,  and  in  a  manner  to  justify, 
in  your  estimation,  the  plan  being  pursued.  We  must  get  down  to  the 
root  of  this  contention,  if  it  is  ever  to  be  settled  in  wisdom  and  safety. 

Governor  Prince,  in  his  elaborate  and  ingenious  address,  this  after- 
noon, in  which  he  suspended  before  us  an  object  we  knew  to  be  jet- 
black,  and  came  near  convincing  us  that  it  was  snow-white,  said  some 
things  which  cannot  be  allowed  to  pass  unchallenged.  It  seems  hard 
to  say,  and  much  harder  to  believe,  that  the  Governor  would  with  intent 
be  guilty  of  distorting  or  garbling  the  words  of  any  one  to  gain  undue 
advantage  in  debate.  And  yet  he  seems  to  have  done  so.  You  will 
remember  his  declaration  that  there  were  those  who  say,  "  that  the 
cost  in  labor  invested  in  the  production  of  a  thing,  is  the  value  of  the 
thing  when  produced." 

I  do  not  believe  that  any  man  outside  of  an  asylum  for  the  insane,  or 
a  retreat  for  idiots,  ever  said  any  such  thing.  But  coincidence  of  lan- 
guage forces  me  to  believe  it  has  reference  to  declarations  of  mine,  mis- 
quoted by  reason  of  careless  reading.  My  words  will  be  found  in  an 
address  before  this  Congress,  in  the  official  report  of  its  proceedings  at 
the  Denver  meeting.  I  was  then,  as  now,  endeavoring  to  find  a  solution 
of  this  silver  question  by  the  test  of  fundamental  laws. 

What  I  said  then,  in  this  connection,  it  were  well  to  repeat  here: 
That  the  cost  to  the  producer  of  silver  and  gold  was  governed  by  the 
same  law  as  in  the  case  of  coal,  iron,  copper,  wheat,  corn  and  cotton  — 
the  same  as  every  product  of  industry,  from  mine,   farm  or  factory. 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  137 

Their  cost,  not  their  value,  as  represented  by  Gov.  Prince,  being 
measured  by  the  amount  of  labor  invested  in  their  production.  It  was 
laid  down  then,  and  repeated  now,  that  the  cost  to  the  producer  of  the 
product  of  hand,  or  brain,  was  the  equivalent,  always,  of  the  value  of 
the  labor  expended  in  its  production. 

But  the  value  to  the  producer  of  the  thing  produced  was  determined 
by  quite  a  different  law,  by  conditions  beyond  his  control,  or  his  power 
to  foretell  with  any  degree  of  certainty.  Values  are  determined  by  the 
necessities  of  the  consumer,  and  are  controlled  by  the  relative  supply 
and  demand  of  each  and  every  article  or  thing,  in  an  open  market. 

The  farmer  invests  his  earnings  in  land  and  farm  implements  ;  plants, 
cultivates  and  harvests  his  wheat.  When  in  the  granary  he  can  readily 
determine  its  cost  in  the  measure  of  interest  on  his  investment  and  labor 
from  seed  time  to  harvest.  But  he  must  depend  upon  the  market 
price,  where  he  has  to  sell,  for  an  answer  to  the  question :  What  is  the 
result  of  my  investment  and  labor  worth  to  me?  If  wheat  is  scarce, 
and  the  hungry  plenty,  he  will  realize  profitable  return :  if  wheat  is 
abundant,   and  consumers  scarce,  his  returns  may  involve  actual  loss. 

The  mechanic  builds  his  forge  and  buy3  iron  and  coal.  With  his 
brawny  arm  he  oeats  out  horseshoes  and  strings  them  upon  a  pole. 
He  counts  the  cost  of  material,  and  adding  the  value  of  labor  at  the 
anvil,  knows  exactly  what  the  string  of  shoes  have  cost  him.  But  their 
value  to  him  must  be  determined  later,  by  the  necessities  of  men  with 
unshod  horses.  If  barefooted  horses  are  abundant,  and  competition 
light,  he  will  realize  quick  sales  and  large  profits ;  if  these  conditions 
are  reversed,  slow  sales  and  small  profits,  or  possible  loss. 

In  like  manner  the  silver  miner  invests  his  capital  and  labor,  subject 
to  the  same  law  as  the  farmer  and  mechanic,  in  the  fixing  of  the  cost 
and  value  to  him  of  silver  bullion.  If  the  demand  for  wheat  and  horse- 
shoes is  not  such  as  to  make  the  business  of  producing  them  self-sus- 
taining what  follows?  Do  the  farmer  and  mechanic  clamor  for  aid,  and 
demand  that  the  government  take  the  complete  product  of  farm  and  shop, 
at  an  arbitrary  price  double  that  for  which  they  can  be  sold  in  the  open 
markets  of  the  world  ?  Do  they  proceed  to  organize  a  political  party, 
and  kindle  the  flames  of  sectional  strife^  on  the  issue  of  free  and  un- 
limited use  of  wheat  and  horseshoes  as  measures  of  value,  on  a  fixed 
ratio  with  gold,  of  double  their  intrinsic  market  value ;  and  the  issue  of 
legal  tender  certificates  therefor?  Oh,  no,  they  just  quit  the  business 
of  growing  wheat  and  turning  horseshoes,  until  changed  conditions 
again  demand  them  at  paying  prices !  And  this  is  just  what  the  silver 
producer  should  do,  and  in  the  end  must  do.  Let  them  pursue  the 
course  already  entered  upon.  Close  up  non-paying  silver  mines  and 
push  the  enterprise  of  mining  gold.  By  this  method,  this  respect  for 
paramount  natural  law,  will  relief  be  found  for  the  existing  disparity  in. 


138  Report  of  Proceedings 

the  market  value  of  silver  and  gold.  It  cannot  be  accomplished  by 
human  enactments,  any  more  than  the  laws  of  man  can  be  put  in  the 
place  of  the  laws  of  God  in  the  moral  world. 

That  I  may  not  do  injustice  in  charging  free  silver  advocates  with 
the  unreasonable  purpose  of  invoking  the  aid  of  government,  to  make 
good  to  the  silver  mining  industry  its  impairment  incident  to  the  law  of 
supply  and  demand,  which  has  depressed  the  price  of  silver  bullion  in 
the  open  markets  of  the  world  from  $1.34  an  ounce  in  1850, 
to  63  cents  an  ounce  now,  let  me  call  as  a  witness  in  my  defense  a  dis- 
tinguished advocate  of  free  silver,  now  a  delegate  in  this  Congress. 
The  Globe-Democrat  of  yesterday  prints  the  following,  in  quotation 
marks,  from  the  Hon.  Frank  J.  Cannon,  of  Utah : — 

u  We  must  have  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  at  a  ratio  of  16  to  1  if 
this  country  desires  prosperity  again.  Silver  is  now  so  cheap  that  miners  can 
not  run  their  mines  at  a  profit.  There  are  a  large  number  of  mines  containing 
both  gold  and  silver,  the  latter  predominating;  and  other  mines  contain  lead 
and  silver,  but  these  mines  cannot  be  worked  at  a  profit  because  the  silver  is 
worth  nothing.  The  value  of  silver  must  be  increased  before  these  mines  can 
be  worked  without  loss,  and  the  best  way  to  increase  the  value  of  the  white 
metal  is  by  its  free  and  unlimited  coinage." 

Here  you  have  it  all  in  a  nutshell.  The  Government  is  not  only  asked 
to  provide  a  market  for  the  surplus  silver  of  the  world,  but  must  coin  it 
into  legal-tender  money  at  a  fictitious,  arbitrary  value,  more  than  twice 
its  worth  in  the  market  as  a  commodity  to-day.  And  for  what?  That 
the  waning  enterprise  of  silver  mining  shall  be  made  the  most  sure  and 
profitable  of  all  known  vocations.  He  says  that  "  silver  is  worth  noth- 
ing" now,  and  in  the  voice  of  the  "  fiatist"  demands  that  the  Govern- 
ment shall  make  "  something  "  out  of  "nothing,"  and  create  a  class 
aristocracy  by  giving  that  "something"  to  the  silver  miner,  at  the 
expense  and  wrong  of  all  other  industries. 

There  are  numberless  other  industries  in  our  country  to-day  that  may 
be.  fitly  described  by  the  words  of  Mr.  Cannon,  by  substituting  the 
word  wheat,  cotton,  or  something  else,  for  silver ;  and  farm,  or  factory, 
for  mine,  and  which  could  with  equal  reason  and  justice  demand  relief  by 
the  same  paternal  method.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  free  and  unlimited 
coinage  of  silver  is  only  another  phase  of  the  "  Sub-Treasury  System," 
proposed  for  the  relief  of  the  farmer.  As  a  matter  of  experience,  silver 
-coin  cannot  be  forced  into  actual  use  as  circulating  money  except  to 
.a  limited  extent,  not  in  amount  equal  to  one-fourth  the  amount  already 
coined.  The  silver  is  resting  in  the  vaults  of  the  National  Treasury, 
•whilst  certificates  representing  it  are  in  circulation  as  money,  at  double 
the  value  of  the  silver  they  represent.  By  the  same  method  corn  and 
cotton,  pig  iron  and  lead,  may  be  made  legal-tender  at  double  their 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  139 

value,  by  their  purchase  and  deposit,  and  the  issuance  of  legal-tender 
certificates  thereon ;  and  I  am  free  to  declare  my  conviction  that  there 
is  just  as  much  power  vested  in  the  Government  to  do  it  with  one  of 
the  commodities  named  as  another,  and  no  more  or  less  of  justice  or 
reason  in  assuming  the  power  to  do  it. 

What  I  wish  to  say,  and  to  express  it  in  very  plain  English,  is  this : 
The  Government  of  the  United  States  has  no  more  right,  either  legal  or 
moral,  to  respond  to  the  necessities  and  demands  of  the  silver  miner, 
for  a  market  for  his  output  of  silver  by  purchasing  it  at  a  price  double 
that  fixed  for  it  by  the  law  of  supply  and  demand  in  the  open  markets 
of  the  world  —  no  more  right  to  take  fifty  cents  worth  of  that  silver  and 
issue  a  legal-tender  certificate  in  payment  for  it  of  one  dollar,  than  it 
has  to  take  a  fifty-cent  bushel  of  wheat  at  the  fictitious  price  of  one 
dollar,  and  pay  for  it  in  a  like  certificate  (applause). 

(Some  members  leaving  the  hall.)  I  hope  my  silver  friends  will  not 
go  away,  as  this  may  be  the  last  opportunity  I  shall  ever  have  to  carry 
the  truth  to  them. 

I  desire  now  to  undertake  the  correction  of  history,  that  has  been  so 
sadly  disfigured  by  my  friend  Governor  Prince  in  your  hearing  this 
afternoon.  You  will  remember  with  what  force  and  pathos  he  depicted 
to  us  the  crime  of  silver  demonetization,  and  the  awful  results  following 
it,  in  destruction  of  values,  the  withering  of  trade  and  crushing  of  labor, 
incident  to  the  reduction  of  the  volume  of  currency,  by  taking  silver 
from  its  function  as  money.  How  values  of  factory  and  farm,  mill  and 
shop,  and  all  the  fruits  of  toil  had  been  dragged  down  by  it.  Both  the 
Governor,  and  the  eloquent  young  gentleman  from  Colorado  who  pre- 
ceded him  upon  this  platform,  pointed  us  to  1873  as  the  fatal  date  of 
the  crime  and  disaster  which  had  drawn  that  dark  and  dismal  line  of 
unthrift  across  our  beloved  country,  this  side  of  which  had  been  a  very 
"  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  "  to  us  as  a  people.  They  told  of  the 
thrift  and  profit  of  enterprise  under  bi-metallism  prior  to  that  date,  and 
of  unthrift  that  followed  under  monometallism  thereafter.  If  I  have 
overstated,  or  in  the  least  misrepresented  these  gentlemen,  I  wish  to 
be  corrected,  and  make  apology  right  now. 

In  these  so-called  arguments,  truth  and  error  were  so  nicely  blended, 
fact  and  fiction  so  ingeniously  woven  into  the  same  frabric,  as  to  con- 
fuse the  coolest  head,  and  mislead  the  most  stable  judgment,  into  an 
approval.  For  myself  it  may  be  confessed,  that  I  got  completely  lost 
in  the  wilderness  we  were  led  into,  and  had  to  pinch  myself  to  deter- 
mine whether  it  was  I  or  somebody  else. 

Having  discovered  myself,  and  recovered  my  senses  again,  it  may  be 
as  well  for  me  to  spring  a  surprise  upon  you  now  as  later,  and  here  it 
is:  As  a  matter  of  fact,  silver  was  not  demonetized  in  1873,  and  Gov. 
Prince  knows  it,  whether  the  gentleman  from  Colorado  does,  or  not 


140  Report  of  Proceedings 

(laughter).  They  have  talked  loud  and  long  to  us  about  the  beauties 
and  blessings  of  bimetallism  under  free  and  unlimited  coinage  laws, 
when  Gov.  Prince  knows,  when  every  man  who  has  given  thought  to  it 
knows,  that  gold  and  silver  money  were  never  maintained  in  circulation 
together  under  a  free  coinage  law,  for  a  single  year,  by  any  government 
in  the  history  of  the  race  (applause).  A  free  coinage  law  may  not 
demonetize  silver ;  it  may  not  demonetize  gold ;  but  one  or  the  other 
of  them  must  yield  to  the  inevitable,  and  go  out  of  use  as  money, 
under  the  action  of  such  a  law.  Let  me  repeat  this,  as  it  is  funda- 
mental :  Never  in  the  history  of  human  government  have  gold  and 
silver  been  maintained  on  a  parity,  and  in  coincident  circulation  as 
money,  a  single  year,  under  a  free  coinage  law  (applause).  In  the 
experience  of  our  own  Government,  each  has  been  demonetized  by 
the  other,  under  the  resistless  force  of  a  free  coinage  law.  Let  us  see 
when  and  how. 

The  first  mint  act  of  the  United  States  was  in  1792.  It  was  a  free 
coinage  act,  pure  and  simple.  Under  its  provisions  any  citizen  of  the 
Republic,  any  inhabitant  of  the  world,  could  bring  gold  or  silver  to  our 
mints  and  receive  gold  or  silver  coin,  as  they  might  elect,  in  return,  at 
a  fixed  ratio  of  15  to  I.  That  is,  the  depositor  of  one  ounce  of  gold 
would  receive  for  it  just  fifteen  times  the  value  in  coin  money  that  the 
depositor  of  an  ounce  of  silver  would  receive.  This  ratio  was  an 
arbitrary  one  fixed  by  law  without  respect  to  the  natural  law  of  relative 
values,  it  was  not  the  ratio  existing  in  the  open  markets  of  the  world, 
where  gold  and  silver  were  daily  bought  and  sold.  It  was  at  variance 
to  the  legal  ratio  in  the  countries  of  Europe,  where  commercial  values 
had  been  respected  and  a  ratio  of  15 J  to  1,  adopted.  Just  why  our 
government  did  not  beat  the  same  path  of  common-sense  that  had  been 
marked  out  by  the  other  nations  I  cannot  say,  unless  by  suggestion,, 
that  its  infatuation  with  the  idea  that  a  country  strong  enough  to  whip 
Great  Britain,  and  set  up  an  independent  Republic,  was  strong  enough 
to  defy  the  natural  laws  of  God. 

Let  us  now  recall  the  results  of  this  free  coinage  law.  The  ratio  of 
law  not  being  the  ratio  of  commerce,  one  of  the  metals  was  necessarily 
overestimated,  the  other  underestimated.  Gold  happening  to  be  the 
underestimated  one,  came  at  once  to  be  worth  more  in  dust  or  bar  than 
in  coin.  In  other  words,  an  ounce  of  gold  bullion  would  buy  more  of 
the  necessaries  of  man  than  fifteen  ounces  of  silver,  whilst  its  legal 
tender  value  in  coin  was  no  more  than  the  silver.  Hence  gold  ceased 
to  be  money  of  circulation,  and  its  coinage  a  fruitless  burden  up3n  the 
government.  The  great  crime  of  demonetization  and  monometallism, 
then,  was  not  perpetrated  first  in  1873  in  the  interest  of  the  "yellow 
metal,"  as  stated  by  Gov.  Prince  in  your  hearing  to-day;  but  in  1792, 
and  in  the  interest  of  the  "  white  metal,"     From    1792  to    1834   our 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  141? 

country  worried  along  with  a  single  standard  of  money  measure,  and  that 
silver ;  and  seems  to  have  done  fairly  well  at  that,  and  without  breaking 
up  the  gold  mining  interests  of  the  world  either. 

For  a  period  of  nearly  forty  years  gold  had  not  been  seen  by  the  people 
of  this  country,  except  in  the  windows  of  bullion  brokers,  when  about 
the  year  1830  there  came  to  be  an  organized  determination  to  adopt 
means  for  the  restoration  of  gold  and  bimetallism.  That  contest, 
however,  was  fought  on  quite  different  and  greatly  broader  lines  than 
the  present  one.  It  was  more  a  national  sentiment  than  a  class  interest  ; 
a  question  of  public  policy,  rather  than  private  concern.  The  interests 
of  the  ostracised  gold  miner  cut  no  figure,  so  far  as  I  can  read.  The 
only  question  was  one  of  feasibility,  of  means  for  its  accomplishment. 
Those  who  claimed  that  it  could  be  reached  through  a  change  of 
ratio,  in  the  then  free  coinage  law,  were  met  by  the  objection  that 
this  was  a  mere  temporizing  policy,  a  guessing  on  the  future  commer- 
cial relations  of  the  metals,  that  would  again  demonetize  one  or  the 
other  of  them.  The  environments  of  the  question  at  that  time  it 
were  well  to  study  now,  and  I  venture  to  recall  a  little  of  that  history. 
On  this  subject  Hon.  Campbell  P.  White,  of  the  Finance  Committee  of 
Congress,  said  in  1831: — 

"  There  are  inherent  and  incurable  defects  in  the  system  which  regulates  the 
standard  of  value  in  both  gold  and  silver ;  its  instability  as  a  measure  of  con- 
tracts and  its  mutability  as  the  practical  currency  of  the  nation,  are  serious 
imperfections;  whilst  the  impossibility  of  maintaining  both  metals  in  concur- 
rent, simultaneous  circulation  seems  to  be  clearly  ascertained." 

From  a  report  made  by  the  same  man  to  Congress  I  read  the  follow- 
ing: —  (This  report  of  the  Finance  Committee  was  made  a  year  later,  in 
1832.) 

"The  committee  cannot  ascertain  that  both  metals  have  ever  circulated 
simultaneously,  concurrently  and  indiscriminately  in  any  country  where  there 
are  banks  or  money  dealers ;  and  they  entertain  the  conviction  that  the  nearest 
approach  to  an  invariable  standard  is  its  establishment  in  one  metal,  which 
metal  shall  compose  exclusively  the  currency  for  large  payments." 

In  1834  one  of  the  most  distinguished  statesmen  this  country  has  ever 
produced,  whose  name  will  be  revealed  to  you  a  little  later,  in  a  speech 
in  the  United  States  Senate,  gave  the  following  exposition  of  the  then 
existing  free  coinage  law:  — 

11  The  false  valuation  put  upon  gold  has  rendered  the  mint  of  the  United 
States,  so  far  as  gold  coinage  is  concerned,  a  most  ridiculous  and  absurd  insti- 
tution. It  has  coined,  and  that  at  large  expense,  2,962,177  pieces  of  gold, 
worth  $11,852,890,  and  where  are  the  pieces  now?  Not  one  of  them  to  be 
seen,  —  all  sold,  and  exported ;  and  so  regular  is  the  operation  that  the  director 


142  Report  of  Proceedings 

of  the  mint,  in  his  latest  report  to  Congress,  says  that  the  new  coined  gold  fre- 
quently remains  in  the  mint,  uncalled  for,  though  ready  for  delivery,  until  the 
day  arrives  for  a  packet  to  sail  for  Europe.  He  calculates  that  two  millions  of 
native  gold  will  be  coined  annually  hereafter;  the  whole  of  which,  without  a 
reform  of  the  gold  standard,  will  be  conducted,  like  exiles,  from  the  national 
mint  to  the  seashore,  and  transported  to  foreign  regions." 

In  a  final  appeal  for  the  passage  of  the  bill  intended  to  reform  the 
mint  law  and  save  gold  for  money  use  in  our  own  country,  this  same 
Senator-Statesman  uttered  the  following  words :  — 

11  To  enable  the  friends  of  gold  to  go  to  work  at  the  right  place  to  effect  the 
recovery  of  that  precious  metal  which  the  fathers  once  possessed  —  which 
the  subjects  of  European  kings  now  possess — which  the  citizens  of  the  young 
republics  of  the  south  all  possess  —  which  even  the  free  negroes  of  San 
Domingo  possess  —  but  which  the  yeomanry  of  this  America  have  been  deprived 
of  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  will  be  deprived  of  forever,  unless  they 
discover  the  cause  of  the  evil,  and  apply  the  remedy  to  the  root." 

And  who  was  this  eloquent  advocate  of  the  "  gold  dollar  of  the 
daddies"  in  1834?  It  was  that  great  statesman,  whose  name  is  so 
linked  with  the  name  of  St.  Louis  that  this  city  will  be  known  and 
remembered  by  coming  generations,  as  long  as  the  hand  of  time  shall 
continue  to  weave  years  into  centuries  —  it  was  Thomas  H.  Benton 
(applause).  And  there  was  no  Congressman  Bryan  then,  to  denounce 
him  as  a  "  gold  bug  "  —  a  u  hog,"  that  should  have  a  ring  put  in  his 
nose  (applause). 

But  Congress  responded  to  this  appeal  for  gold,  and  decided  that  the 
American  citizen  was  as  good  as  a  San  Domingo  negro,  and  of  right 
should  be  permitted  to  handle  a  gold  coin  occasionally.  They  sought 
and  found  a  remedy,  but  in  doing  it  ignored  the  lessons  of  history  and 
the  warnings  I  have  read  to  you  from  Congressman  Campbell  P.  White, 
as  well  as  many  others  who  believed  with  him,  that  the  trouble  was 
not  so  much  in  the  ratio,  as  in  a  free  coinage  law  itself.  They  changed 
the,  ratio  from  15  to  1,  to  16  to  1,  which  overreached  the  European  and 
commercial  ratio  just  as  much  as  the  old  law  fell  short  of  it.  In  their 
desire  for  gold  they  had  overvalued  it,  and  undervalued  silver,  with 
the  logical  and  inevitable  result  —  they  remonetized  gold  and  demone- 
tized silver.  It  was  in  1834,  my  friends,  and  not  in  1873,  as  you  have 
so  many  times  been  told  to-day,  that  silver  was  demonetized  in  the 
United  States  of  America. 

Gov.   Waite  (interrupting)  :  May  we  ask  you  a  question? 

Gov.  Anthony  :  Certainly. 

Gov.  Waite:  Was  that  change  an  increase  of  silver  in  the  dollar? 

Gov.  Anthony  :  That  change  was  a  decrease  in  the  gold  in  the  dollar 
(applause).     I  see   nothing   strange    in    this.     Honesty  demanded  a 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  143 

decrease  in  gold  in  the  dollar  then,  just  as  it  demands  an  increase  in 
the  silver  in  the  dollar  now.  This  is  the  only  way  to  fix  a  ratio  and 
keep  it  in  harmony  with  the  governing  law  of  values,  the  open  market 
price  which  the  separate  metals  will  command. 

We  find,  then,  as  a  historic  fact,  that  silver  was  demonetized  under 
the  operation  of  this  act  of  1834,  changing  the  ratio  of  metal  values ; 
not  in  1873,  and  as  a  base  conspiracy,  as  charged  in  your  hearing  so 
many  times  to-day.  It  was  the  result  of  error  in  judgment ;  too  much 
confidence  in  the  power  of  human  enactments,  and  not  enough  in  the 
force  of  a  great  and  paramount  natural  law.  The  ratio  of  16  to  1 
made  silver  in  the  bar,  as  a  commodity,  worth  more  than  in  coin,  as 
money.  In  the  language  of  Senator  Benton,  which  I  have  read  to  you, 
"  silver  coin  was  conducted,  like  exiles,  from  the  national  mint  to  the 
seashore,  and  transported  to  foreign  regions,"  just  as  gold  coin  was 
exiled  and  transported  to  foreign  regions  before  this  change  in  coinage- 
ratio. 

Young  men  cannot  verify  this  statement  from  memory,  but  I  see 
many  gray-haired  men  before  me  who  can.  They  will  confirm  what  I 
have  stated  to  you  from  my  own  personal  knowledge.  No  man  saw  an 
American  silver  coin  —  "a  dollar  of  the  daddies  "  — in  circulation  as 
money  in  the  transaction  of  business,  from  1834  to  1873.  Nor  were 
minor  silver  coins  of  the  United  States  seen  in  circulation  until  after 
1854,  when  the  minting  of  subsidiary  coin  at  a  ratio  of  14^  to  1,  with 
a  limited  legal  tender  to  five  dollars,  was  provided  for.  No,  Mr.  Pres- 
ident, you  could  no  more  find  an  American  silver  coin  passing  from 
man  to  man  as  money  in  all  those  years.,  than  you  could  find  business 
brains  in  the  head  of  a  fiat-money-financier  now  (applause). 

Gov.  Waite:  Is  it  a  fact  that  while  sixty  millions  of  dollars  were 
coined,  that  ninety-five  million  dollars  of  subsidiary  coin  was  coined? 

Gov.  Anthony:  It  is  not  a  fact,  for  any  period  known  to  me;  but 
for  the  period  from  1793  to  1894  there  was  a  little  over  $39,000,000  of 
silver  coined,  of  which  less  than  $1,500,000  was  in  standard  silver 
dollars,  and  over  $37,500,000  in  subsidiary  coin.  But  this  subsidiary 
coin,  having  the  same  ratio  of  silver  in  them  as  the  standard  dollar, 
went  from  the  mint  to  the  bullion  market  the  same  as  the  dollar. 

Gov.  Waite:  While  I  have  the  floor  let  me  ask  another  question. 
When  the  mints  of  the  United  States  were  open  to  the  coinage  of  silver 
at  16  to  1,  and  as  you  say  the  ratio  in  England  being  15J  to  1,  the 
bullion  silver  was  worth  more  than  the  coined  silver — is  it  a  fact  that 
the  price  of  silver  bullion  was  fixed,  whenever  the  mints  were  open  in 
the  United  States  and  in  France4  at  the  ratio  of  either  one  government 
or  the  other? 

Gov.  Anthony:  Oh,  no,  my  friend.  In  the  first  place  the  mints  of 
France  were  never  open  to  the  free  coinage  of  silver.     France  main- 


144  Report  of  Proceedings 

tained  a  parity  between  gold  and  silver  coin  at  its  legal  ratio,  by  a 
pledge  of  interchange  and  redemption,  each  with  the  other  at  the  will 
of  its  owner,  precisely  as  this  government  does  now ;  so  that  whatever 
was  short  in  the  value  of  the  metal,  was  made  good  by  the  credit  of 
the  government.  It  is  this  obligation  of  the  government  that  makes 
our  fifty  cent  silver  dollar  equal  to  the  one  hundred  cent  gold  dollar 
now. 

Gov.  Waite  :  I  mean  that  the  mints  of  France  coined  silver  at  the 
rate  of  15 J  to  1? 

Gov.  Anthony  :  Yes,  sir ;  the  mints  of  France  coined  silver  at  15J 
to  1,  and  we  at  16  to  1.  That  is  right,  and  just  what  I  have  been 
saying ;  and  this  difference  in  ratio  made  it  profitable  to  send  French 
gold  here  to  buy  our  silver  coin,  at  its  face  value,  as  fast  as  it  dropped 
from  the  mint,  to  be  carried  there  and  coined  under  the  French  ratio. 

Gov.  Waite  :  How,  in  the  United  States,  could  the  price  of  silver 
bullion  go  down  below  16  to  1,  when  the  mints  of  the  United  States 
were  coining  it  at  this  ratio? 

Gov.  Anthony  :  For  the  same  reason  that  gold  went  up  relatively 
to  silver,  under  the  coinage  ratio  of  15  to  1,  prior  to  1834.  The  price 
of  bullion,  gold  or  silver,  is  determined  by  the  law  of  supply  and  demand, 
and  no  coinage  ratio  can  affect  to  annul  that  law. 

Gov.  Waite  :   Let  me  say  to  you  — 

The  Chairman:  Governor,  you  certainly  are  enough  of  a  parlia- 
mentarian to  know  that  you  must  ask  permission  before  you  can  ask  a 
question.     You  know  how  to  get  the  floor  —  by  addressing  the  Chair. 

Gov.  Anthony:  Mr.  President,  I  beg  your  pardon,  but  I  never  want 
to  be  discourteous.  We  are  here  in  search  of  the  truth,  and  any  one 
asking  a  question  with  an  honest  purpose  to  illuminate  and  set  out  the 
truth  more  plainly  than  I  am  doing  it,  is  my  friend  and  not  an 
intruder. 

Gov.  Waite  :  Governor  Anthony,  I  intend  to  treat  everybody  per- 
fectly fair,  and  do  not  ask  any  questions  for  the  purpose  of  annoying 
anybody.  If  you  have  any  idea  that  I  do,  I  wish  you  would  disabuse 
your  mind  of  it.  I  am  here  for  the  purpose  of  getting  information, 
and  for  the  purpose  of  getting  at  the  facts.  The  question  that  I 
put  to  you  was :  If  at  any  time  while  the  mints  of  the  United  States 
were  open  to  the  coinage  of  silver  at  the  ratio  of  16  to  1,  did  the 
price  of  silver  bullion  ever  go  below  those  figures? 

Gov.  Anthony  :  No,  sir ;  not  if  you  mean  to  apply  your  question  to 
the  time  of  the  enactment  of  the  16  to  1  ratio  law  of  1834,  to  its 
repeal  in  1873,  During  that  period  silver  never  reached  so  low  a 
commercial  ratio  as  16  to  1,  and  consequently  could  not  be  kept  in 
coin.  But  if  you  ask  it  with  reference  to  the  period  since  1873,  I 
answer  with  an  emphatic,  yes,  sir.     We  have  coined  full  legal  tender 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  145 

silver  dollars  at  the  ratio  of  16  to  1,  more  than  four  hundred  million 
dollars  of  them,  and  with  the'pledge  of  the  government  to  maintain  them 
on  a  parity  with  gold  dollars,  and  yet  the  bullion  price  of  silver  has  gone 
down,  down,  until  the  silver  in  one  of  our  dollars  is  worth  less  than 
fifty  cents  in  the  markets  of  the  world. 

Gov.  Waite:   (Rising  to  speak.) 

The  Chairman  :  Now,  Governor  Waite,  you  are  too  good  a  parlia- 
mentarian to  undertake  to  get  the  floor  without  coming  under  parlia- 
mentary law.  You  must  ask  permission  of  the  gentleman  you  are 
asking  the  questions  of. 

Gov.  Anthony:  That  so-called  demonetization  of  silver  in  1873 
requires  no  more  attention  from  me,  in  exposing  its  utter  absurdity, 
but  my  duty  would  not  be  performed,  my  obligation  to  country  and 
conscience  redeemed,  did  I  fail  to  rebuke  that  awful  indictment  of  my 
government  —  your  government — of  the  grandest  and  wisest  govern- 
ment in  its  inception,  the  most  just  and  generous  in  its  administration, 
the  most  comprehensive  in  range  of  possibilities  for  the  race  in  the 
world  —  that  was  drawn  and  presented  to  us  this  afternoon  by  Gover- 
nor Prince.  We  were  told  by  him  that  at  a  period,  less  than  twenty- 
five  years  past,  the  President,  the  Senate,  the  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States,  united  and  joined  with  enemies  of  our  country 
abroad,  conspired  and  combined  in  a  plot  more  damnable  in  purpose, 
more  destructive  to  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  man,  than  was  ever 
before  wrought  by  legislative  crime.  He  told  us  of  the  shrinkage  of 
values,  of  fortunes  broken  and  wasted,  of  hopes  blasted  and  homes 
made  desolate,  of  miseries  multiplied,  by  the  stealthy  "  striking  down 
of  the  white  metal,"  in  the  act  of  February  12th,  1873. 

I  submit  that  this  is  not  an  overstatement  of  the  Governor's  awful 
arraignment.  Indeed,  imagination  could  not  picture  a  conspiracy,  born 
of  hell  and  nursed  by  devils,  more  hideous  in  injustice  and  cruelty 
than  this  act  of  our  Government.  If  what  he  said  to  us  is-  to  stand  un- 
challenged, as  historic  truth,  then  indeed  the  train-wrecking  robber  of 
the  plains  is  a  man  of  honor,  when  compared  with  the  men  elected  to 
make  and  administer  our  laws. 

I  stand  here  to  protest  with  all  the  fervor  of  my  nature  against  this, 
and  all  kindred  inflammatory  appeals  to  passion — these  perversions  of 
history  for  the  purpose  of  cultivating  the  soil  of  popular  distrust  and 
discontent ;  it  can  do  no  less  than  destroy  love  for  country,  respect  for 
home,  and  breed  disloyalty  to  the  Republic.  I  can  perform  no  higher 
duty  than  to  denounce  it,  here  and  now ;  to  bring  to  you  convincing 
evidence  that  all  this  talk  of  free  silver  advocates  about  a  "  secret  con- 
spiracy," with  its  midnight  meetings  and  its  mysterious  dark-lantern 
pathways,  by  which  this  bill  was  carried  through  both  houses  of 
Congress  and   signed  by  the  President,  without  the  knowledge  of  any 


146  Report  of  Proceedings 


one  outside  of  the  conspirators,  is  but  the  policy  of  selfishness,  or  the 
prating  of  demagogism    (applause).     And  now  to  the  proof  of  this. 

As  early  as  1870,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  Boutwell,  in  his  annual 
report  for  that  year,  recommended  amendment  of  the  mint  law,  sub- 
stantially as  appears  in  the  act  of  1873.  Every  one  knows,  or  should 
know,  that  at  this  time  neither  silver  nor  gold  were  legal-tender,  by 
requirement  of  law ;  that  payment  in  specie  had  been  suspended  for 
years,  and  its  possible  resumption  a  thing  of  the  future,  suspended  be- 
tween hope  and  doubt,  in  the  minds  of  statesmen  and  financiers ;  that 
silver,  in  bullion,  was  worth  3  per  cent  more  than  its  face  value  in  coin  ; 
that  to  have  passed  a  law  of  Congress,  at  that  time,  demonetizing  a  sil- 
ver dollar  of  4 12 J  grains,  would  have  been  no  more  effective,  nor  less 
idiotic,  than  an  act  legalizing  the  natural  law  of  gravitation. 

In  1871,  bills  were  introduced  and  discussed  in  both  houses  of  Con- 
gress embodying  the  recommendations  of  Secretary  Boutwell.  The  bill 
which,  as  amended,  finally  became  a  law,  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Hooper 
of  Massachusetts  in  the  House,  not  by  Sherman  in  the  Senate,  as  most 
free  silver  men  delight  to  believe  and  declare.  It  was  first  considered 
in  the  House  on  April  9,  1872.  (See  page  3,  Cong-.  Globe,  2d  session, 
42d  Cong.)  Mr.  Hooper,  from  the  Committee  on  Finance,  presented 
the  bill  with  explanations,  by  sections  in  their  order.  On  presentation 
of  sections  14  and  16,  which  include  this  subject,  he  said:  — 

11  Thus  far  it  is  a  re-enactment  of  the  present  laws;  in  addition,  it  declares 
the  gold  dollar  of  twenty-five  and  eight-tenths  grains  of  standard  gold  to  be 
the  unit  of  value,  gold  having  been  practically  in  this  country  for  many  years 
the  standard,  or  measure  of  value,  as  it  is  legally  in  Great  Britain  and  most 
European  conntries.  The  silver  dollar,  which  is  by  law  the  legally  declared 
unit  of  value  now,  does  not  bear  a  correct  relative  proportion  to  the  gold  dol- 
lar; being  worth  intrinsically  about  one  dollar  and  three  cents  in  gold,  it  cannot 
circulate  concurrently  with  gold  coins.  As  the  value  of  the  silver  dollar  de- 
pends on  the  market  price  of  silver,  which  varies  according  to  the  demand  and 
supply,  it  is  now  intrinsically  worth,  as  has  been  before  stated,  about  three  cents 
more  than  the  gold  dollar." 

"  Section  16  re-enacts  the  provisions  of  existing  laws  defining  silver  coins 
and  their  weights  respectively,  except  in  relation  to  the  silver  dollar,  which  is 
reduced  in  weight  from  412%  to  324  grains;  thus  making  it  a  subsidiary  coin  in 
harmony  with  the  silver  coins  of  less  denominations.  The  silver  dollar  of  412% 
grains,  by  reason  of  its  bullion  or  intrinsic  value  being  greater  than  its  nominal 
value,  long  since  ceased  to  be  a  coin  of  circulation,  and  is  melted  by  manufacturers 
of  silverware." 

"The  committee,  after  careful  consideration,  concluded  that  twenty-five 
and  eight-tenths  grains  of  gold,  constituting  the  dollar,  should  be  declared  the 
money  unit  or  metallic  representative  of  the  dollar  of  account." 

Here  we  have  a  full  and  frank  declaration  of  the  purpose  of  this  Bill, 
made  by  its  author  on  its  presentation  to  the  Congress  and  people  of  the 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  147 

United  States  for  consideration,  and  a  year  before  its  enactment  into 
law.  Its  purpose  was  to  make  the  law  conform  to  the  higher  law  of 
supply  and  demand,  which  had  demonetized  silver  under  the  amended 
ratio  of  forty  years  before.  It  was  proposed  to  do  it  this  time  by  re- 
manding the  silver  dollar  to  the  condition  of  a  subsidiary  coin,  with  a 
limited  legal-tender  function,  and  a  ratio  of  intrinsic  value  with  that  of 
gold  coin  that  would  keep  it  in  circulation  as  money.  For  the  eighty 
years  of  our  national  existence  we  had  been  engaged  in  the  vain  struggle 
of  maintaining  a  bimetallic  currency,  under  a  free  coinage  law,  only  to 
succeed  in  the  demonetization  of  gold  under  the  first  ratio,  and  silver 
under  the  second  one. .  The  statement  I  have  given  you,  from  Chairman 
Hooper,  was  verified  on  the  same  occasion  by  other  members  of  his 
committee,  and  that  without  protest  or  unfriendly  criticism  from  a 
single  member  of  the  house,  on  account  of  its  hostility  to  silver.  Mr. 
Stoughton  of  Michigan,  a  member  of  the  committee,  said:  — 

"  The  only  change  in  this  law  is  the  more  clearly  specifying  the  gold  dollar 
as  the  unit  of  value.  This  was  publicly  the  intention,  and  perhaps  the  effect 
of  the  law  of  March  3d,  1849,  but  it  ought  not  to  be  left  to  inference  or  impli- 
cation. Silver  depends,  in  a  great  measure,  upon  the  fluctuations  of  the  mar- 
ket and  the  supply  and  demand,  for  its  value.  Gold  is  practically  the  standard 
of  value  among  all  civilized  nations,  and  the  time  has  come  in  this  country 
when  the  gold  dollar  should  be  distinctly  declared  to  be  the  coin  representa- 
tive of  the  money  unit." 

"  The  silver  coins  provided  for  in  this  bill  are  the  dollars  of  384  grains 
troy,  the  half-dollar,  quarter-dollar  and  dime,  of  the  value  and  weight  of  one- 
half,  one  quarter,  and  one  tenth  of  the  dollar,  respectively ;  and  are  made'  a 
legal  tender  for  all  sums  not  exceeding  five  dollars  at  any  one  payment.  The 
silver  dollar,  as  now  issued,  is  worth  for  bullion  3|  cents  more  than  the  gold 
dollar,  and  7£  cents  more  than  two  half  dollars.  Having  a  greater  intrinsic 
than  nominal  value  it  is  certain  to  be  withdrawn  from  circulation  when  we 
return  to  specie  payment,  and  to  be  used  only  for  manufacture  and  export  of 
bullion." 

"  The  office  of  silver  coin  is  to  supply  the  public  want  for  small  change. 
They  are  made  the  token  of  value,  and  not  the  value  itself,  and  are  designed 
only  for  change  and  circulation  at  home  up  to,  but  never  in  excess  of,  the 
requirements  of  trade." 

Mr.  Potter  of  New  York  said  (see  page  2310  same  Vol.  Cong. 
Globe):— 

"  This  bill  provides  for  the  making  of  changes  in  the  legal-tender  coin  of  the 
country,  and  for  substituting  as  legal-tender  coin  of  only  one  metal,  instead  of 
two.  I  think  myself  this  would  be  a  wise  provision,  and  legal-tender  coins, 
except  subsidiary  coins,  should  be  of  gold  alone." 

You  will  remember  a  quotation  read  to  us  yesterday  from  Congress- 
man Kelly,  of  Pennsylvania,  then   a  member  of  Congress,  declaring 


148  Report  of  Proceedings 

that  this  bill  was  smuggled  through  surreptitiously,  and  absolutely 
without  his  knowledge  at  the  time.  Charity  to  the  memory  of  the 
dead  Statesman  leads  me  to  hope  that  the  quoted  words  are  a  forgery  ; 
but  if  not  they  must  stand  against  his  fame,  as  a  confession  of  moral 
cowardice.  For  on  page  2311  of  the  Congressional  Record,  from  which 
I  have  been  reading  to  3tou,  will  be  found  the  following  evidence,  in 
his  own  words  as  officially  reported,  that  he  not  only  knew  all  about 
the  bill,  but  was  one  of  its  most  distinguished  advocates.     He  said:  — 

"By  a  mistake  in  our  law  it  has  become  impossible  to  retain  an  American 
silver  dollar  in  this  country  except  in  collections  of  curiosities.  They  would, 
if  coined  in  considerable  numbers,  be  a  source  of  enormous  profit  to  the  silver 
bullion  dealers  of  New  York.  Let  me  show  you.  The  silver  refined  by  our  laws 
is  worth  3h  cents  more  than  the  gold  dollars,  and  is  worth  7  cents  more  than 
two  half  dollars.  Now,  sir,  is  the  government  of  the  United  States  to  be  made  the 
prey  of  the  people  of  the  world  in  order  to  give  larger  profits  to  a  few  silver  bullion 
brokers  in  New  York?  For  this  is  the  whole  question.  But  I  have  shown  you 
but  a  small  part  of  the  profits  that  the  bullion  gamblers  and  dealers  of  New  York 
City  are  making  under  our  loose  laws.  The  gentlemen  who  oppose  this  bill 
insist  upon  maintaining  a  silver  dollar  worth  three  and  a-half  cents  more  than 
a  gold  dollar.  So  long  as  these  provisions  remain  you  cannot  keep  silver  coin 
in  the  country.  Certain  bullion  dealers  in  New  York  are  making  from. fifty  thou- 
sand to  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  a  year  out  of  our  government.  One  of  them 
admitted  to  my  colleague  and  myself,  that  his  business  averaged  from  one 
million  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  two  millions  a  year,  and  that  he 
put  the  silver  into  the  mint,  and  drew  out  for  every  two  dollars  four  half-dollars 
and  a  ten-cent  piece." 

As  I  have  said,  we  had  no  use  for  coin  money  at  the  time  this  bill 
was  recommended  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  enacted  by 
Congress.  Silver  was  but  the  means  of  speculating  upon  the  Govern- 
ment, as  the  words  of  Mr.  Kelly  so  clearly  show.  Only  in  California 
was  specie  in  use,  and  that  gold.  It  was  the  only  State  that  stood  up 
against  the  Government  standard,  "  greenbacks,"  and  made  gold  coin 
its  only  legal  tender.  And  for  this  it  was  arraigned  by  Senator  Sher- 
man in  debate  on  this  bill,  as  disloyal  to  Government,  keeping  $40,000,- 
000  of  gold  in  its  own  selfish  use,  at  a  time  when  it  was  greatly  needed 
to  buy  foreign  material  for  war  purposes. 

Senator  Johnson,  of  California  (interrupting)  :  I  hope  the  Governor 
will  not  abuse  my  constituents,  here  in  St.  Louis  (laughter). 

Gov.  Anthony:  Oh,  no,  Senator,  every  man,  when  we  get  through 
with  this,  will  recognize  me  as  his  friend. 

Referring  again  to  the  debates  upon  this  bill,  from  which  I  have  read, 
it  becomes  apparent  that  it  was  more  in  the  nature  of  protection  from 
the  greed  of  "silver  bugs,"  than  in  the  interest  of  "gold  bugs." 
Nor  is  any  evidence  of  cunning  or  concealment  disclosed  at  any  stage 
in  either  House.     The  Hooper  bill  passed  the  House,  and  went  to  the 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  149 

Senate,  but  failed  of  passage  that  session.  On  re-assembling,  it  was 
revived  by  House  Resolution  No.  2394 ;  again  discussed,  passed,  sent  to 
the  Senate,  and  referred  to  its  Finance  Committee ;  and  by  Senator 
Sherman,  its  Chairman,  reported  back  with  amendments,  on  December 
16th,  1872.  Here  it  became  the  subject  of  extended  debate,  in  which 
Senator  Stewart  took  an  active  part.  Singularly  enough,  the  only 
opposition  to  the  bill  came  from  the  silver  bullion  brokers  of  New 
York,  and  the  gold  worshipers  of  California. 

The  Senate  finally  returned  it  to  the  House  with  some  twenty  amend- 
ments, which  were  non-concurred  in,  and  it  went  to  a  conference  com- 
mittee ;  some  of  the  amendments  were  ratified  and  others  receded  from, 
and  it  became  a  law  on  the  12th  of  February,  1873. 

During  all  these  years  no  bill  was  more  constantly  before  Congress  and 
the  country  than  this  one.  And  I  now  submit  that  its  supporters  should 
be  taken  out  of  the  entomological  kingdom,  where  they  have  so  long 
been  doomed  to  dwell  as  "  gold  bugs,"  and  returned  again  to  family 
and  friends,  as  members  of  the  human  family  (applause). 

Mr.  Fisk  (Interrupting) :  Would  not  that  all  have  been  cured  if  the 
ratio  had  been  15  to  1  ? 

Gov.  Anthony:  Not  under  a  free  coinage  law.  But  of  that  later. 
What  I  want  to  show  is  that  this  bill  was  passed  with  the  full  knowl- 
edge of  all,  and  show  it  by  the  record. 

Mr.  Fisk  (Interrupting) :  I  have  read  all  that  record. 
Gov.   Anthony:  That  may  be,  but  if  so  you  have  never  divulged  it 
to  your  hearers  in  any  speech  I  have  heard  from  you  (applause). 

Mr.  Fisk  :  You  did  not  answer  my  question  :  What  is  the  reason  that 
a  dollar  that  left  the  country  for  coinage  in  Europe  did  not  contain  any 
more  silver  than  the  subsidiary  coins? 

Gov.  Anthony  :  That  question  may  be  somewhat  abstruse  and  in- 
volved for  my  little  mind,  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  no  such  thing  ever 
occurred,  and  therefore  no  reason  can  be  given  for  it.  Our  subsidiary 
coins  were  of  the  same  ratio  in  richness  of  metal  and  weight  as  the 
dollar  coin,  until  1854,  and  were  gathered  up  and  exported  with  the 
same  profit.  After  that  they  were  minus  seven  cents  in  value  of  metal, 
and  remained  at  home. 

Mr.  Fisk:  Answer  the  question. 

Gov.  Anthony:  I  think  I  have,  and  want  now  to  close  the  question 
in  hand.  Does  any  intelligent  citizen  of  this  country  really  believe  this 
law  of  1873  to  have  been  the  fruit  of  a  conspiracy,  in  which  the  Ameri- 
can Congress  and  President  were  allied  with  the  gold  interests  of  En- 
gland? And  that  it  was  "smuggled  through  "  Congress  without  its 
own  members,  or  the  country,  knowing  anything  about  it?  Is  there  a 
man  here  in  this  house  who  believes  it  (cries  of  no,  no)?* 
Gov.  Waite  :  Let  me  say  a  word  on  that. 


150  Report  of  Proceedings 

Gov.  Anthony:  No,  sir.  I  am  not  going  to  give  up  any  more  of 
my  time. 

We  must  all  know,  and  I  want  you  to  carry  this  thought  home  with 
you,  that  if  this  charge  of  corruption  in  our  government,  as  then  or 
at  any  time  in  its  history  constituted,  can  by  any  possibility  be  true, 
that  it  must  shake  the  confidence  and  impair  the  faith  of  every  citizen 
of  this  Republic  in  the  solidity  and  perpetuity  of  his  government.  It 
must  go  far  to  confirm,  as  axiomatic,  the  statement  of  the  man  who 
reared  an  Empire  over  the  grave  of  a  Republic  —  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 
He  laid  it  down  as  a  political  axiom,  that  "  a  government  resting  upon 
a  popular  ballot  contains  the  seeds  of  its  own  destruction,  and  must 
sooner  or  later  flee  from  its  own  cruelty  to  the  more  tender  mercies  of 
a  despotism." 

I  have  a  single  illustration  —  an  object  lesson  in  free  and  unlimited 
coinage  —  which  will  demonstrate  its  fallacy,  and  protect  me  from  any 
selfish  motive  in  assuming  a  position  on  this  subject.  I  have  interests 
in  Mexico  which  were  acquired  at  a  time  when  exchange  between  silver 
and  gold  in  that  country  was  but  ten  per  cent,  now  it  is  about  one 
hundred  per  cent.  Some  of  those  interests  are  still  retained,  although 
I  am  selling  them  when  I  can ;  my  experience  in  that  country  for  a 
period  of  years  having  taught  me  to  love  my  own  country  more  than 
ever  before.  Talk  about  poverty  and  its  attendant  miseries  in  this 
country?  Why,  if  any  of  you  have  traveled  in  Mexico,  you  have  seen 
more  of  poverty,  misery,  and  squalid  wretchedness,  greeting  and  im- 
ploring you  at  Chihuahua,  Zacatecus,  or  any  like  station,  at  every  pass- 
ing train,  than  can  be  found  in  ten  States  like  Missouri ;  and  they  enjoy 
the  full  benefits  and  blessings  of  free  and  unlimited  silver  coinage 
there,  too  (applause). 

We  have  been  given  to-day,  as  the  crystallized  judgment  of  the  ad- 
vocates of  free  coinage  at  the  ratio  of  16  to  1,  that  it  would  immediately 
bring  silver  up  to  gold  in  market  value  as  bullion  —  that  silver  is  now 
below  gold  in  commercial  value  only  because  we  do  not  freely  coin 
them  at  that  ratio.  Mexico  has  had  exactly  that  law  and  its  uninter- 
rupted practice  for  all  these  years,  except  that  the  Mexican  silver 
dollar  contains  six  and  a  fourth  grains  more  of  pure  silver  than  does 
our  dollar.  Now  what  has  been  the  effect  of  this  law  in  Mexico?  And 
why  should  not  its  results  be  the  same  here  as  there?  In  this  expe- 
rience is  found  a  complete  answer  to  the  question  put  to  me  a  little 
time  ago:  "  Did  not  the  ratio  in  this  country  and  France  fix  the  price 
of  bullion  silver  in  each  country?"  It  could  not  do  it  in  the  countries 
named  in  the  question  more  than  it  has  done  it  in  Mexico.  And  there, 
a  ratio  of  a  little  less  than  16  to  1,  in  use  for  nearly  a  century,  has  had 
no  control  over  the  bullion  price  of  silver,  but  has  seen  it  go  above 
that  coinage  ratio,  and  then  below  it,  until  at  this  moment,  when  the 
bullion  price  is  but  half  of  the  legal-tender  value  of  the  coin. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  151 

I  sold  some  machinery  in  the  city  of  Mexico  on  the  4th  of  last  April, 
and  here  is  a  duplicate  of  the  draft  received  for  the  proceeds  of  one  of 
those  sales.  It  is  issued  by  the  bank  of  London  and  Mexico,  payable 
in  gold,  at  the  bank  of  British  North  America,  in  New  York  (show- 
ing the  paper).  For  the  machine  I  received  $1,782.00  and  for  that 
number  of  Mexican  silver  dollars  received  this  draft,  for  $900.00  gold. 
Rate  of  exchange,  98  per  cent.  Or  $882.00  premium  in  silver  on 
$900.00  in  gold. 

Now,  who  paid  this  premium  ?  This  is  a  vital  question  that  I  want 
made  plain  to  you.  It  cost  me  not  one  cent.  I  could  have  as  well 
paid  $3,000.00,  if  that  had  been  the  known  cost  of  exchange.  The 
price  of  the  property  sold  was  based  on  gold,  and  what  I  asked  was 
received  for  it.  But  who  did  bear  the  burden  of  that  enormous  ex- 
change? And  right  here  we  come  to  the  pith  of  this  matter,  and  expose 
the  demogogic  claim  that  the  common  people,  the  poor  working  man, 
wants  a  "  cheap  "  dollar.  The  man  who  bought  the  machine  was 
establishing  a  starch  manufacturing  plant.  In  capitalizing  that  plant 
he  could  only  protect  himself  by  putting  the  machine  in  at  the  price  he 
paid  for  it  in  his  own  money  —  $1,782.00,  not  $900.00  —  and  the  price 
of  his  starch  is  made  to  meet  the  interest  on  the  larger,  not  the  smaller 
sum,  and  the  poor  people,  who  starch  their  garments  as  much  as  do  the 
rich,  have  the  chief  burden  to  carry. 

But  our  free-silver  friends  tell  us  that  unlimited  coinage  would  not 
tempt  silver  from  other  countries,  to  be  loaded  upon  us.  Yet  if  free 
coinage  had  have  existed  here,  do  you  that  suppose  I  would  have 
bought  this  draft?  Not  much!  I  would  have  started  with  that  silver 
in  my  "  grip  "  for  St.  Louis,  or  New  York,  and  converted  my  Mexican 
dollars  into  legal-tender  American  dollars,  making  $882.00  thereby  — 
plus  the  excess  of  silver  in  the  Mexican  dollars.  With  free  coinage  and 
a  guaranteed  parity,  the  St.  Louis  merchant,  who  would  order  $10,000 
worth  of  foreign  goods,  to  be  sold  here  at  a  possible  profit  of  ten  or 
twenty  per  cent,  would  be  a  business  idiot,  when  he  could  order  the 
same  amount  in  silver  and  double  his  money  on  it  at  the  mint,  on 
delivery.  The  merchant  who  did  order  foreign  goods  would  at  the 
same  time  order  silver  sufficient  to  pay  the  duties  on  them,  to  come  on 
the  same  vessel.  He  would  only  have  to  slip  over  to  Philidelphia  with 
his  silver  to  make  100  per  cent  on  it,  and  be  able  to  pay  his  duties  at 
half  price,  leaving  the  government  to  recoup  by  the  sale  of  its  bonds, 
or  other  expedient. 

Under  free  and  unlimited  coinage,  without  the  guarantee  of  parity 
maintenance,  and  this  is  what  is  demanded,  no  such  opportunities 
would  offer,  for  three  months  time  would  be  ample  to  Mexicanize  this 
country,  reduce  our  circulating  money  more  than  $600,000,000  in  the 
loss  of  gold,  and  $300,000,000  more  in  the  purchasing  power  of  silver 
coin  and  certificates,  which  would  go  at  once  to  the  plane  of  the  com- 


152  Report  of  Proceedings 

mercial  value  of  silver  bullion,  where  Mexican  silver  coins  are,  have 
been,  and  must  remain,  so  long  as  they  adhere -to  their  present  system 
of  free  and  unlimited  coinage. 

In  conclusion,  I  am  not  called  upon  by  any  personal  interest  to  pro- 
tect or  defend  the  American  banker ;  as  a  class,  I  am  under  no  per- 
sonal obligation  to  them,  except  such  as  are  expressed  on  the  face  of 
"  bills  payable."  And  yet  I  listened  with  pain  and  profound  concern 
when  they  were  compared  to  "  train-robbers"  by  Mr.  Bryan,  from  this 
platform  to-day.  A  banker  is  no  more  a  robber  than  any  other  busi- 
ness man  in  our  country  —  if  an  honest  banker.  And  if  he  is  not  an 
honest  man  behind  the  bank  counter,  he  is  no  worse  than  a  dishonest 
man  in  any  other  vocation.  A  member  of  Congress  from  my  own  State, 
when  robber-ruffians  from  the  Indian  Territory  murdered  some  of  our 
best  citizens,  in  an  attempt  to  rob  a  bank,  uttered  the  same  sentiment. 
He  said:  "  Why  arrest,  try  and  hang  these  men ;  they  only  sought  to 
steal  the  money  in  the  bank,  and  that  is  just  what  the  owners  of  the 
bank  had  already  done  —  why  not  hang  them?  " 

Oh,  shame  on  any  cause  that  makes  it  necessary  to  assail  the  char- 
acter and  credit  of  my  country,  as  they  have  been  assailed  from  this 
rostrum  to-day.  Oh,  despised  be  the  advocate  of  that  cause,  who  drops 
to  the  plane  of  denouncing  that  great  class  of  men,  who  did  in  defense 
of  their  country  what  I  could  not  do,  what  you,  my  soldier  comrades, 
could  not  do.  We  could  put  our  lives  in  the  breach,  and  bare  our 
breasts  to  the  shot  of  the  foe,  to  save  our  country  with  its  constitution 
and  flag  to  posterity ;  but  we  had  no  money  to  contribute  or  loan  to 
the  Government,  and  of  what  avail  were  soldiers  without  money  to  feed, 
<clothe  and  pay  them ;  to  supply  them  with  arms  and  ammunition?  But 
for  the  capitalists  of  our  country  who  were  patriotic  and  trustful 
enough  to  advance  money  and  protect  the  national  credit ;  —  who  went 
to  Abraham  Lincoln  with  money,  as  we  went  to  him  with  service ;  — 
but  for  that  union  of  confidence  and  patriotism,  which  risked  life  in  the 
field  and  fortune  at  home,  this  country  would  long  since  have  ceased 
to  exist  as  one  of  the  family  of  great  nations,  where  it  so  proudly 
stands  to-day  (applause). 

My  judgment  condemns  these  demagogic  appeals  to  the  prejudice  of 
class  and  section,  as  little  better  than  treason ;  my  soul  revolts  against 
them  with  unutterable  loathing. 

And  now,  gentlemen,  it  only  remains  for  me  to  thank  you,  who  have 
listened  with  such  patience  until  this  late  hour  of  the  night.  If  I  have 
said  anything  severe,  beyond  the  measure  of  necessity  in  an  earnest, 
honest  purpose  of  awakening  thought  and  provoking  reflection,  I  regret 
it.  But,  Mr.  President,  it  is  safe  to  say,  in  parting  with  you,  that  if 
I  have  said  anything  that  I  am  sorry  for,  I  am  heartily  glad  of  it 
{great  applause). 

Adjourned  to  Wednesday  morning. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  153 

Wednesday  Morning. 

November  28,  1894. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  President  Cannon  at  10:30 
o'clock. 

Miscellaneous  business  or  the  introduction  of  resolutions  was  declared 
in  order  and  resolutions  were  introduced  and  referred. 

The  Chairman  :  The  order  adopted  yesterday  was  that  after  miscel- 
laneous business  had  been,  attended  to,  there  should  be  two  hours 
devoted  to  debate  on  Staple  Agriculture.  If  there  be  no  other  business 
now,  that  time  for  that  debate  will  be  granted. 

Senator  Johnston  :  Mr.  Chairman,  in  pursuance  of  the  question  now 
coming  before  us,  I  send  up  a  majority  report  and  also  a  minority 
report,  and  ask  the  Secretary  to  read  them. 

The  reports  were  read  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Culmer,  acting  as  Secretary. 

majority  report. 

"  The  Committee  on  Resolutions  reports  the  accompanying  resolution 
with  the  recommendation  that  the  resolution  be  not  adopted.'' 

minority  report. 

"  The  following  members  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  respect- 
fully recommend  the  favorable  consideration  of  the  following  resolu- 
tion." (Signed)    D.  Lubin, 

W.  H.  Weed, 
George  W.  Parsons, 
B.  Edmonton, 
Ben.  E.  Rich. 

Whereas,  American  principles  demand  equality  before  the  law,  in  life, 
liberty  and  taxation ;  and 

Whereas,  The  prices  of  American  manufactures  are  increased  by  the  pro- 
tective tariff  in  our  country;  and, 

Whereas,  The  foundation  industry,  namely,  staple  agriculture,  cannot  be 
benefited  by  a  protective  tariff  alone,  owing  to  the  fact  that  these  products  are 
exports  and  therefore  are  sold  in  free  competition  in  the.  open  markets  at  the 
world's  ruling  prices,  less  the  cost  of  transportation  from  place  of  production 
to  Liverpool,  whether  consumed  at  home  or  exported ;  thus  compelling  Amer- 
ican producers  of  these  staples,  to  buy  in  the  dearest  and  sell  in  the  cheapest 
markets  of  the  world,  thereby  discriminating  against  the  producers  of  staple 
agriculture;  and 

Whereas,  The  introduction  of  labor-saving  agricultural  machinery  in  the 
hands  of  the  cheapest  labor  of  the  world  and  on  lands  much  cheaper  and  as 
fertile  as  ours  has  so  lowered  the  cost  of  production  so  as  to  reduce  the  world's 
price  of  these  staples  to  about  half  the  former  rates,  and  which  promise  to 
remain  so  permanently ;  and 

Whereas,  Such  a  condition  must  tend  to  the  elimination  of  the  independent 


154  Report  of  Proceedings 

land-owning  farmer  and  his  replacement  by  a  dependent  peasant  tenantry  sys- 
tem, which  unless  prevented  will  not  only  prove  detrimental  to  agriculture  and 
the  kindred  industries  but  also  to  the  perpetuity  of  American  institutions; 
therefore 

Resolved,  (1)  That,  just  so  long  as  manufactures  are  enhanced  in  value  by 
protection,  equity,  justice  and  expediency  demand  an  equal  measure  of  protec- 
tion for  staple  agriculture  by  enhancement  of  their  prices  in  our  country. 

Eesolved,  (2)  That,  inasmuch  as  these  products  are  exports  and  not  imports, 
their  prices  cannot  be  enhanced  by  a  protective  tariff  alone,  no  matter  how 
high,  but  an  increase  of  their  prices  in  our  country  can  only  be  secured  by  the 
use  of  a  limited  portion  of  the  tariff  collected  for  protection  to  pay  a  premium 
on  exported  agricultural  staples. 

Senator  Johnston:  I  move  as  a  substitute  for  the  majority  report, 
the  minority  report  of.  the  committee.  On  that  I  desire  to  have  Mr. 
Lubin  take  the  floor  and  address  the  convention. 

The  Chairman  :  The  question  of  the  adoption  of  the  minority  report 
is  now  before  the  congress. 

The  minority  report  was  then  reread. 

Mr.  Rich  :  Before  this  discussion  opens  it  would  be  well  to  know  the 
pleasure  of  the  congress  concerning  the  manner  in  which  it  is  to  be  de- 
bated. Under  the  rules  reported  by  the  Committee  on  Rules  and  Order 
of  Business,  10  minutes  are  allowed  to  the  gentleman  introducing  a 
resolution,  who  is  the  author  of  it ;  5  minutes'  address  to  close,  and  7 
minutes  to  other  speakers.  But  yesterday  the  congress  adopted  a  reso- 
lution that  there  should  be  two  hours'  debate  upon  this  subject  of  Staple 
Agriculture,  and  it  might  be  well  before  we  enter  upon  the  debate  to 
understand  how  this  debate  shall  be  conducted.  I  would  like  to  hear 
from  the  gentleman,  Senator  Johnston,  who  introduced  the  resolution 
yesterday,  asking  the  congress  to  allow  two  hours  for  this  debate. 

Senator  Johnston  :  The  Worthy  Master  of  the  State  Grange  of  Cali- 
fornia will  occupy  a  few  moments,  and  I  think  about  a  minute  and  a 
half  will  be  about  as  much  as  I  want.  Mr.  Lubin,  the  author  of  this 
idea,  the  originator  of  it,  would  like  as  much  time  as  the  convention  will 
grant  him,  as  there  will  be  some  opposition  probably  in  the  discussion. 
I  would  like  to  have  him  make  his  talk  and  the  rest  of  us  will  submit  to 
the  rule  of  the  Congress. 

The  Chairman  :  How  long  will  it  require  ? 

Mr.  Lubin  :  I  have  an  address  which  will  probably  take  about  an 
hour. 

Senator  Johnston:  Mr.  Chairman,  last  evening  one  gentleman 
occupied  half  an  hour  in  discussing  the  money  problem.  The  time  was 
not  equally  distributed,  and  we  would  like  the  indulgence  of  the  con- 
vention so  that  he  can  make  this  matter  plain  to  every  one.  I  believe 
he  understands  it  thoroughly  and  that  he  can  get  through  with  the 
subject  in  an  hour. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  155 

A  Delegate  (from  Missouri) :  Mr.  Chairman,  when  that  resolution 
was  passed  yesterday  to  grant  two  hours  to  the  discussion  of  agricultural 
products,  it  was  not  intended  that  the  economic  questions  of  tariff 
would  be  brought  up  under  any  such  delusion.  A  question  of  the 
production  of  agricultural  products  of  the  fields  and  cereals  of  our  land 
is  one  thing  —  the  discussion  of  a  political  question,  such  as  this  resolu- 
tion both  in  the  majority  and  the  minority  reports  refer  to  and  as  the 
resolution  professes  to  be,  is  another  thing.  We  understand  this  is 
a  commercial  body.  Talking  about  agriculture  is  one  thing  and  the 
question  of  economic  laws  is  another.  Now,  if  this  is  to  be  thrown 
open  to  a  two  hours'  debate  I  would  move  that  it  be  postponed  until 
some  other  day.  I  understand  this  body  has  granted  you  gentlemen, 
representing  the  agricultural  interests  of  California,  to  talk  for  an  hour 
upon  agriculture,  but  we  do  not  want  you  to  introduce  the  questions  of 
tariff.  The  people  of  this  country  on  the  6th  of  November  proclaimed 
that  they  were  tired  of  discussing  it,  and  what  the  country  wants,  Mr. 
Chairman,  is  a  rest  upon  that  subject.  We  would  be  delighted  to 
listen  to  the  gentlemen  who  want  to  represent  Agriculture ;  if  they  can 
give  anj'  intimation  of  how  to  produce  any  of  the  cereals  in  a  better  or 
speedier  method,  or  if  there  is  any  economic  method  about  that,  as  a 
matter  of  course  I  would  raise  no  objection.  I  do  not  think  this  body 
wants  to  listen  to  a  long  harangue  on  a  political  or  tariff  question,  and 
I,  as  one,  would  object  to  the  extension  of  two  hours  on  that  subject. 

Senator  Johnston  :  Mr.  Chairman,  the  question  of  tariff  does  not 
occur  in  that  proposition  that  we  bring  before  you.  This  question, 
Mr.  Chairman,  has  been  decided  by  a  certain  sound,  by  the  people 
of  these  United  States  within  a  very  short  time.  This  is  not  a  question 
of  tariff  or  of  free  trade.  We  do  not  bring  any  such  question  to  this 
body  to  discuss.  We  think  we  know  our  business  better.  We  under- 
stand what  we  are  discussing,  and  it  is  the  extension  of  the  present 
voice  of  the  people  to  the  tillers  of  the  soil  that  we  are  about  to  dis- 
cuss here.  It  is  not  a  question  of  whether  we  will  have  a  tariff  or  free 
trade.  That  question  has  been  decided,  and  we  now  simply  ask  the 
extension  of  that  decision  to  the  three  millions  of  people  who  till  the 
soil,  who  own  a  very  large  portion  of  the  territory  of  this  country, 
whose  commercial  interests  would  not  be  worth  a  dollar  were  it  not  for 
the  tillers  of  the  soil,  and  we  claim  the  attention  of  this  body  for  a  few 
moments  to  discuss  that  question.  Mr.  Chairman,  this  has  been 
said  to  be  a  commercial  congress.  I  think  the  gentleman  is 
correct,  that  it  is  a  commercial  congress,  and  we  are 
about  to  introduce  a  subject  here  which  will  further  the 
commercial  interests  of  these  United  States  just  as  much  as  any  other 
question  we  have  discussed.  Silver?  Does  that  come  any  nearer  the 
commercial   interests   of  this  country  than  do  cotton,  corn,  pork  or 


156  .  Report  of  Proceedings 

beef?  Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  we  ask  fair  play,  and  I  do  not  want  to 
occupy  too  much  time  here.  We  simply  by  a  vote  of  this  body  have 
been  granted  this  order  of  business,  and  it  will  require  a  two-thirds  vote 
of  this  body  to  change  that  order  of  business  at  this  time.  Now,  Mr. 
Chairman,  I  hope  this  time  will  be  granted  to  brother  Lubin,  and  if 
this  congress  gets  tired,  you  may  call  him  down  and  he  will  quit. 

A  Delegate  (from  Missouri)  :  Read  the  resolution,  so  that  this  body 
can  understand  whether  it  is  a  question  of  agriculture,  or  tariff,  or 
economic  principles  that  the  people  of  this  country  have  sat  down  upon. 

The  reports  were  then  read  again  for  the  third  time. 

The  Delegate:  Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  if  they  will  eliminate  all 
features  in  reference  to  the  tariff  and  insert,  in  place  of  that,  "  Agricul- 
ture," I  do  not  think  there  could  be  any  objection  to  it,  but  it  would 
avoid  that  question  that  has  been  so  tiresome  to  this  country  and  give 
us  all  that  refers  to  agriculture. 

Senator  Johnston:  Mr.  Chairman,  does  the  word  "  tariff"  occur  in 
the  reading —  so  long  as  protection  is  the  will  of  the  American  citizen, 
the  humble  hayseed  asks  his  share  of  it. 

The  Clerk  (reading)  "  Staple  agriculture  cannot  be  benefited  by  a 
protective  tariff  alone." 

The  Chairman:   "  By  protection  alone  "  —  will  that  alteration  suit? 

Mr.  Lubin:  I  object  to  the  change.  I  stand  here,  Mr.  Chairman  and 
gentlemen  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Congress,  to  present  a  measure  of 
equity  and  right  of  a  most  important  interest  in  the  United  States.  If 
this  Trans-Mississippi  Congress  is  what  I  thought  it  was  when  I  accepted 
the  invitation  to  be  a  delegate  to  it,  a  representative  body  of  men  this 
side  of  the  Mississippi  river  for  the  purpose  of  ameliorating  adverse  con- 
ditions and  for  the  purpose  of  furthering  the  interests  of  these  vast 
States  and  territories,  then  we  are  all  right  and  then  this  question  is 
properly  before  this  congress.  But  if  this  congress  — I  say  it  with  all 
due  respect  —  from  what  I  have  learned  this  morning  of  my  own 
observation  is  practically  a  mutual  admiration  society  for  silver  alone, 
you  will  do  the  cause  of  silver  much  more  harm  than  all  its  friends  can 
do  it  good,  and  I  say  it  now  and  right  here  (applause).  I  prefer  to 
take  that  resolution  from  the  table  as  the  introducer  of  it  and  go  before 
a  fair  American  audience,  be  they  a  congress  or  no  congress,  and 
receive  justice  and  right,  rather  than  have  it  treated  as  it  has  been 
spoken  of.     I  demand  the  resolution. 

A  Delegate  (from  Arkansas):  Mr.  Chairman,  I  rise  to  a  point  of 
order.  I  understand  that  this  is  the  report  of  a  committee,  and 
if  it  is  not  in  proper  shape,  I  do  not  think  that  this  house  has 
the  right  to  amend  it  in  this  arbitrary  way.  If  it  is  not  in 
proper  shape  for  the  reception  of  this  body,  it  ought  to  be 
recommitted.     They  have  no  right  to  change  it  in  that  way.     It  has 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  157 

to  come  before  this  body  as  it  is,  in  the  form  of  a  minority 
report  or  majority  report,  and  if  it  is  susceptible  of  change,  it 
is  only  by  amendment.  I  infer  that  the  question  of  tariff  is 
not  settled.  It  may  be  settled  in  the  minds  of  some  gentlemen  here, 
but  in  the  minds  of  the  American  people  it  is  not  settled.  It  is  like 
Banquo's  ghost,  that  comes  up  always  until  it  is  settled,  and  settled 
right.  I  have  no  objection  to  any  reference  that  is  made  to  protection 
or  free  trade,  or  to  any  modification.  My  point  of  order  is  that  that 
report,  if  not  in  proper  shape,  has  to  be  referred  to  the  committee  from 
which  it  emanated,  and  it  cannot  be  amended  in  this  arbitrary  manner. 

The  Chairman:  The  point  of  order  is  well  taken,  but  the  proposition 
was  to  take  out  this  by  mutual  consent. 

Senator  Johnston  :  To  the  point  of  order  I  desire  to  say  a  word : 
the  Committee,  as  was  its  right,  voted  against  this  proposition.  That 
is,  a  majority  reported  the  proposition  and  recommend  that  it  do  not 
pass.  A  minority  of  that  committee,  as  it  is  their  right  to  do,  bring  in 
a  minority  report,  and  now,  sir,  we  move  to  substitute  the  minority 
report  for  the  majority  report,  and  I  think  I  know  just  exactly  what  I 
am  talking  about. 

A  Delegate  (from  Arkansas):  You  are  right  about  that. 

Senator  Johnston  :  I  rise  to  a  point  of  order.  The  special  order  is 
the  discussion  of  that  question,  and  it  takes  a  two-thirds  vote  of  this 
body  to  change  it,  and  I  demand  the  special  order. 

Mr.  Roach:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  desire  to  say  a  few  words,  more  as 
an  introduction  than  anything  else.  The  gentleman  who  introduced 
this  resolution  was  first  known  as  a  fruit  farmer  in  California.  He 
became  interested  in  the  question  of  the  transportation  of  our 
California  fruits  to  the  East.  He  came  before  our  California 
State  Grange,  which  is  a  conservative  body  of  men  and 
women,  non-partisan  and  non-sectarian,  numbering  up  in  the  thou- 
sands in  membership,  and  presented  this  idea.  It  was  referred  to  a 
committee  of  five  citizens  of  our  State  who  stand  well  in  the  commer- 
cial and  legal  circles  of  our  State.  As  soon  as  they  saw  the  import  of 
this  they  asked  that  they  be  given  further  time  to  report,  that  the  matter 
intrusted  to  their  hands  was  of  such  great  moment  that  they  did  not 
feel  justified  in  making  a  report  in  the  limited  time  given  to  it.  They 
took  this  matter  under  advisement  for  six  days  and  reported  at  the 
Grange  Congress  at  the  Midwinter  Fair  in  San  Francisco,  and  reported 
to  amend  in  favor  of  this  proposition.  Our  executive  committee 
adopted  it  and  referred  it  to  the  various  boards  of  grangers  in  our 
State.  It  was  adopted  and  referred  to  the  National  Grange,  which 
just  closed  its  session  at  Springfield  last  week.  That  body,  represent- 
ing one  and  a  half  million  of  people,  is  organized  in  thirty-five  States 
of  our  Union.     As  is  the  custom  of  that  body,  it  referred  it  back  to 


158  Report  of  Proceedings 

every  subordinate  State  grange,  and  it  will  come  up  next  year  for  final 
action,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  that  action  will  be  favorable. 

Our  difficulty,  especially  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  is  such  that  we  cannot 
longer  maintain  ourselves.  We  have  to  do  something.  We  have  tried 
all  kinds  of  legislation  —  we  have  hoped  that  this  party  or  that  party  or 
some  other  party  would  introduce  some  measure  of  relief,  but  we  have 
no  relief,  and  if  we  are  to  maintain  our  independent  yeomanry  in  the 
United  States,  we  will  have  to  have  this  measure,  or  some  other  one. 
And  when  the  farmer  goes  down,  the  Republic  goes  down  with  him 
(applause). 

We  present  this  matter  from  a  non-partisan  and  non-sectarian  organ- 
ization. You  cannot  take  politics  or  religion  into  a  grange,  thank  God. 
It  is  a  free  institution.  We  present  this  here  because  we  believe  it  is 
right ;  we  believe  it  is  entitled  to  consideration  more  than  it  has 
received,  and  while  we  do  not  propose  to  ask  whether  tariff  is  right  or 
wrong,  we  ask  that  as  long  as  other  industries  are  protected,  we  have 
an  equal  share.  That  is  all  we  ask.  That,  Mr.  Chairman,  is  all  that 
that  resolution  desires,  and  thanking  you  for  attention,  that  is  all  I 
have  to  say.     We  ask  it  as  a  matter  of  justice  and  right  as  men. 

Mr.  Lubin:  Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  Congress,  the  prosperity  of  the  United  States  can  only  be 
maintained  when  there  is  a  just  equilibrium  between  manufacturers  on 
the  one  hand  and  agriculture  on  the  other. 

When  these  two  balance  there  must  be  prosperity.  In  order  that  a 
state  of  civilization  be  carried  out  in  these  United  States  differing 
essentially  from  the  civilization  of  the  foreign  countries,  a  wall  of  pro- 
tection has  been  erected,  which  enhances  the  price  of  commodities 
within  the  United  States,  enabling  a  higher  wage-rate  and  a  better  state 
of  civilization.  Unfortunately,  the  mechanism  of  this  protection  is  one- 
sided ;  it  protects  effectively  against  the  cheaper  labor  of  foreign  coun- 
tries, but  it  has  no  such  effect  upon  anything  going  out  of  the  United 
States.  It  can  have  no  such  effect,  and,  as  long  as  this  cannot  be 
equal,  the  protection  is  not  equal.  It  necessarily  follows  that  the 
industry,  which  is  not  protected  by  the  mechanism  in  operation,  pays 
for  the  protection  of  the  industry  which  has  its  prices  enhanced  by  this 
wall.  This  is  not  new ;  it  has  been  said  thousands  of  times  ;  it  has  been 
said  by  much  abler  men.  What  I  say  to  you  now  is  based  upon  prac- 
tical experience  with  this  question,  practical  experience  as  a  merchant 
and  importer  and  engaged  in  the  business  of  agriculture. 

It  is  commonly  supposed  that  when  a  case  of  goods  comes  over  from 
Europe  to  the  United  States  and  the  duty  on  it  be  $50.00  that  the 
enhancement  is  $50.00.  -This  is  not  true  ;  the  enhancement  on  $50.00 
is  $86.25  ;  because  when  the  goods  reach  the  hands  of  the  importer  he 
adds  a  profit  of  15  per  cent  and  this  is  very  low ;  then  it  goes  into  the 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  159 

hands  of  the  distributor,  the  jobber,  who  adds  20  per  cent ;  it  then  goes 
into  the  hands  of  the  retailer,  who  adds  25  per  cent.  Please  bear  in 
mind  that  this  is  not  on  goods ;  it  is  on  fiat,  on  duty,  on  law,  pure  and 
simple.  Now  then,  the  man  who  pays  the  cost  of  the  entire  thing  is  the 
man,  or  the  great  industry,  which  is  compelled  to  pay  the  advanced 
price  and  at  the  same  time  sell  its  product  at  the  free  trade  price  of  the 
world. 

How  does  agriculture  sell  at  the  free  trade  price  of  the  world? 
England,  to  whom  we  sell  the  bulk  of  our  products,  will  pay  us  no  more 
than  she  can  obtain  the  same  products  for  from  any  other  country  in  the 
world.  As  soon,  as  she  obtains  the  product  at  that  price  then  the  rest 
of  the  product  sold  for  home  consumption  is  appraised.  In  that  great 
exchange  which  some  of  you  visited  yesterday,  the  Merchant's  Ex- 
change, we  found  the  prices  quoted,  Liverpool  on  the  one  side,  New 
York,  Chicago  and  other  cities  on  the  other  side,  and  all  prices  based 
upon  the  price  at  which  we  sell  our  export,  and  this  price  controls  the 
price  of  our  entire  production  of  staple  agricultural  products.  As  we 
have  65,000,000  of  people  to  feed  in  the  United  States  and  a  much 
smaller  ratio  to  send  abroad,  if  we  sell  this  much  of  it  at  the  prices  rul- 
ing at  Liverpool,  necessarily  the  entire  balance  is  sold  at  the  price  of 
the  small  quantity  exported.  This  is  not  new.  This  has  been  stated 
thousands  of  times,  perfectly  clearly.  The  result  is  that  every  single 
dime  of  protection,  and  it  runs  into  billions  of  dollars,  is  paid  by  that 
industry  which  is  compelled  to  sell  everything  it  has  in  Liverpool  and 
buy  everything  at  artificially  enhanced  prices.  There  is  not  a  laboring 
man  in  the  United  States  who  pays  a  copper  for  protection ;  there  is 
not  a  merchant  who  pays  a  copper ;  not  a  lawyer,  butcher,  teacher  or 
any  person  you  can  name  until  you  come  down  to  the  man  that  raises 
wheat  and  cotton,  and  they  foot  the  bill.  This  was  the  condition  in  the 
United  States  for  this  past  30  years  under  high  pressure  and  would 
undoubtedly  have  been  the  condition  for  many  more  years*  to  come, 
because  agriculture  and  manufacture  balance,  and  this  man  here  never 
knew  that  he  footed  the  bill.     A  great  many  of  them  did  not  know  it. 

But  something  remarkable  has  occurred.  It  was  not  necessary  for 
this  fellow  to  realize  this  position.  Why?  because  with  the  powerful 
aid  of  labor-saving  agricultural  machinery  he  could  defy  the  whole 
world.  But  Western  and  Central  Europe,  even  in  this  present  day,  use 
agricultural  machinery.  Agricultural  machinery  has  recently  been 
introduced,  though  chiefly  by  England  ;  her  desire  for  cheap  food  and 
cheap  raw  materials  has  led  her  to  introduce  agricultural  machinery  in 
vast  tracks  of  country  in  the  Argentine  Republic,  that  a  few  years  ago 
supported  only  the  jack  rabbit.  This  country  a  few  years  ago  imported 
flour.  What  does  it  do  to-day?  The  Master  of  the  State  Grange  of  Cali- 
fornia gave  these  figures  which  are  corroborated  because  they  are  facts : 


160  Report  of  Proceedings 

In  1893  according  to  a  report  of  Mr.  J.  H.  Brigham,  Master  of  the 
National  Grange  of  the  United  States,  read  about  4  or  5  days  ago, 
there  were  exported  from  the  United  States  to  Argentine,  agricultural 
machinery,  $1,620,450,  and  Great  Britain  sent  to  the  same  country  the 
same  year  harvesters,  $235,430  ;  Agricultural  steam  engines,  $1,174,028  ; 
agricultural  engines,  not  steam,  $791,620.     Total,  $3,821,528. 

Now,  when  agricultural  machinery  went  into  the  Argentine  Republic 
and  into  India,  Egypt,  Asia  Minor  and  Russia,  then  came  the  trouble 
with  the  peon  and  the  coolie  —  the  cheapest  labor  in  the  world.  We 
gave  them  these  machines  and  the  result  has  been  the  cutting  in  half  of 
prices  on  agricultural  staples.  If  silver  alone  had  been  the  cause,  all 
things  would  have  fallen.  Why  has  not  corn  fallen?  Why  is  not  corn 
worth  12  cents  a  bushel?  Because  Argentine  only  produced  750,000 
lbs.  But  she  is  preparing  to  raise  it  on  a  larger  scale,  and  those  of  you 
who  raise  corn  will  find  the  time  will  come  for  corn  as  it  came  for  wheat. 

What  is  the  condition  of  agriculture  to-day?  It  is  this  staple  agri- 
culture, which  is  the  first  thing  we  receive  to  buy  our  manufactures 
with,  which  is  cut  in  half.  Then  comes  an  economic  disturbance.  What 
is  the  remedy  for  this?  As  soon  as  we  can  restore  the  equilibrium  we 
are  all  right.  What  is  the  method  of  restoring  the  equilibrium?  One 
of  two  ways.  One  is  to  have  manufacture  reduced  to  the  same  level  as 
agriculture,  relatively,  by  absolute  and  unrestricted  free  trade.  The 
other  is  the  lifting  up  of  agriculture  to  the  same  artificial  place  that 
manufacturing  is  placed  in  now.  People  then  say,  "  Oh,  there  is 
another  remedy.  Let  us  curtail  the  area  under  cultivation  —  we  will 
have  a  small  quantity  of  these  great  staples  and  then  they  will  bring 
better  prices."  This  is  seemingly  true,  but  there  are  a  few  things  fatal 
to  its  being  carried  out. 

We  find  that  the  United  States  bought  of  foreign  nations  in  1893  — 
and  this  is  about  the  purchasing  amount  for  the  five  years  following  — 
$800,000*000  worth  of  goods  and  over.  She  owes,  on  a  very  conserva- 
tive estimate,  $100,000,000  —  some  say  $200,000,000  — interest  which 
has  to  be  paid.  We  have  got  to  pay  that  as  long  as  we  buy  from  foreign 
nations,  and  we  must  pay  in  commodities ;  no  nation  can  pay  in  gold 
and  silver.  If  we  had  all  the  gold  and  silver  in  the  world  piled  up 
here,  and  we  paid  only  in  gold  and  silver,  it  would  not  take  more  than 
about  eight  years  to  clean  us  out.  No  country  in  the  world  pays  in 
gold  and  silver.  The  only  commodities  we  can  pay  in  are  those  from 
agricultural  staples,  and  just  as  long  as  we  pay  in  these  agricultural 
staples  we  will  receive  not  a  copper  more  for  them  than  Great  Britain 
can  buy  them  for  from  the  cheapest  labor  countries  of  the  world.,  and 
as  long  as  we  sell  them  at  this  cheap  labor  price,  the  price  for  every- 
thing else  that  is  produced  is  precisely  the  same.  Let  me  give  you  an 
illustration.     Here  is  Liverpool  and  here  is  San  Francisco.     Say  the 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  161 

price  of  wheat  is  $1.00  here,  less  the  cost  of  transportation.  It  will  be 
worth  80c,  70c,  60c  or  50c  as  you  go  further  back.  Here  is  a  factory 
and  you  have  it  loaded  with  10,000  men  working  there  —  what  is  the 
result?  Why,  the  protected  man  will  buy  this  wheat  at  the  Liverpool 
price,  less  the  cost  of  transportation  from  his  place  to  Liverpool. 
The  manufactures  are  sold  with  the  price  added  for  transportation ; 
agriculture  is  sold  with  the  price  deducted  for  transportation,  even 
when  the  stuff  has  not  traveled  at  all. 

.  Now,  while  I  am  in  favor  of  protection,  the  time  has  come  when 
this  is  a  question  superior  to  section.  It  is  a  question  of  the  perpetuity 
of  this  nation.  It  may  be  that  the  question  of  silver  will  supple- 
ment this.  I  do  not  say  you  must  not  talk  of  silver.  I  simply  say : 
I  have  a  right  to  present  this  measure  and  to  show  that  unless 
this  is  rectified,  it  is  one  of  the  means  of  scuttling  the  ship.  There 
never  was  the  danger  before  in  the  United  States  of  these  economic  dis- 
turbances of  which  we  have  only  had  a  simple  taste  the  past  year  and 
this  year  the  thing  must  intensify  itself.  This  has  got  to  reach  an 
equilibrium.  How  is  it  to  reach  that  equilibrium  even  if  silver  were 
worth  a  dollar  and  above  at  this  moment?  Why,  the  Liverpool  price  is 
controlling  the  price  in  the  United  States,  even  though  the  price  of 
wheat  bs  in  every  port  45  cents  or  $1.25.  It  would  not  remove  the 
injustice  that  this  industry  pays  for  the  protection  of  every  other 
industry  in  the  United  States. 

Now,  the  perpetuity  of  a  Republic  depends  upon  the  equity  of  its 
laws. 

The  greatest  purchasers  of  labor  in  the  United  States  are  the  pur- 
chasers of  staple  agricultural  products. 

Some  say  that  if  we  give  any  protection  to  staple  agricultural  prod- 
ucts that  it  will  so  stimulate  the  production  of  staple  agriculture  that 
the  price  will  lower  still  lower  than  they  are  now.  This  is  not  correct. 
The  adoption  of  this  proposition  is  not  new.  It  is  the  old  English 
plan.  It  was  in  operation  before  the  abolition  of  the  corn-law.  There 
is  not  a  single  statement  I  have  made  here  this  morning  that  is  in  any 
way  new. 

It  is  only  the  application  of  the  idea  in  this  country  that  may  be 
called  new.  They  had  a  scale  and  an  export  Board,  and  whatever 
product  they  desired  to  maintain  up  to  a  certain  price,  when  it  rose  up 
to  that  price,  there  was  no  bounty,  when  it  fell  below  that  price  there 
was  a  bounty.  The  bounty  is  intended  merely  to  keep  those  men  on 
the  land  without  driving  them  off. 

If  he  should  have  his  rights  it  should  be  in  the  same  relative  protec- 
tion, 40  or  50  per  cent  on  the  dollar's  worth,  as  manufacturers  receive. 
But  this  proposition  is  only  asking  for  5  or  6  or  2  or  1  per  cent  advance 
on   the   price.     Therefore  this  will  not   conduce    to   overproduction. 


162  Report  of  Proceedings 

Then  again  they  say  "  Let  us  diversify  our  products."  This  may  be 
all  right  in  New  Hampshire,  but  this  is  not  farming  as  it  is  done  in  the 
West,  where  diversification  on  such  lands  as  we  have  is  not  possible. 
What  is  to  become  of  our  California  products  this  year?  They  say 
*'  Diversify  your  products  — go  into  hops."  I  have  seen  hop  fields  un- 
picked, because  it  would  not  pay  to  pick  the  hops.  I  have  seen  vine- 
yards in  which  the  hogs  were  let  in  to  feed  on  that  which  should  be  the 
food  of  man,  because  there  was  a  surplus.  The  only  thing  it  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  us  to  produce  is  staple  agricultural  products  be- 
cause with  these  we  not  alone  feed  our  people,  but  we  send  them  abroad 
in  payment  for  our  imports. 

Again  an  objection  is  made  "  Why  should  we  import?"  —  put  awheel 
around  the  United  States  and  import  nothing. 

Very  good,  I  would  like  to  rest  my  argument  on  that,  if  that  is  the 
sense  of  the  Convention.  I  hardly  think  it  will  be  the  sense  of  the 
American  people  in  this  nineteenth  century  to  take  any  such  step  or 
remedy  as  pointed  out. 

I  will  close  my  remarks  by  giving  this  example  incidental  to  protec- 
tion. Protection  is  against  the  cheap  labor  countries,  I  claim,  and, 
with  the  authority  of  the  very  best  legal  minds  of  the  world,  that 
Government  pure  and  simple  has  not  the  right  to  a  copper  of  the  money 
collected  for  protection,  because  this  is  a  paternal  function  and  not  a 
government  function. 

There  is  no  way  to  protect  an  export  but  by  offering  a  premium  on 
the  export. 

Now,  in  justice  to  the  great  interests  of  agriculture,  if  any  industry 
is  at  all  to  be  protected  it  should  be  agriculture,  because  the  integrity 
of  this  nation  rests  upon  agriculture.  We  demand  here  no  privilege. 
We  demand  here  a  right,  and  the  American  people  must  ultimately 
listen  to  a  right  —  no  privilege,  no  favor  but  a  right  which  they  are 
denied.  They  have  not  had  the  right  for  years,  and  every  year  that 
they  did  not  have  the  right  they  were  robbed  and  it  should  be  done  for 
agriculture  as  well  for  manufactures. 

The  Chairman:  The  Chair  has  a  notice  from  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions,  Hon.  Wm.  J.  Bryan,  informing  the  Chair  that  one  of  the 
members  of  the  Committee,  Mr.  F.  J.  Cannon,  has  charge  of  the  major- 
ity report,  on  Staple  Agriculture,  the  report  which  opposes  the  adoption 
of  the  report  as  I  understand  it. 

It  was  moved  that  Mr.  Cannon  be  heard. 

Mr.  Cannon  :  I  desire  to  ask  what  preliminary  attitude  this  question 
has  at  the  present  moment.  We  were  engaged  in  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions,  and  I  do  not  know  what  position  the  question  has  been 
placed  in  during  our  absence. 

The  Chairman  :  The   motion   was   made   by  Senator    Johnston    of 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  163 

California,  that  the  minority  report  be  substituted  for  the  majority 
report.  Mr.  Lubin  and  Mr.  Roach  have  occupied  the  floor  about  three 
quarters  of  an  hour  in  speaking  favorably  to  the  minority  report,  urging 
its  adoption. 

Mr.  Cannon:  Do  I  understand  from  the  gentleman  who  advocates 
the  minority  report  that  we  have  a  division  of  the  time? 

The  Chairman  :  That  has  been  mentioned,  but  no  decision  has  been 
reached.  There  is  time,  however.  Two  hours  was  allowed  by  special 
order  yesterday  for  the  discussion  of  this  question :  three-quarters  of 
an  hour  have  been  consumed, 

Mr.  Cannon:  All  on  the  affirmative  side  of  the. motion? 

The  Chairman:  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Cannon:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  should  like  to  ask  if  it  would  be 
agreeable  to  the  minority  to  consent  to  an  equal  division  of  the  time, 
not  necessarily  arbitrarily,  but  because  personally,  as  having  charge  of 
the  majority  report,  and  not  having  opportunity  to  consult  with  the 
gentleman  who  would  advocate  the  majority  report,  I  do  not  know  how 
many  of  them  would  choose  to  speak. 

Senator  Johnston:  I  do  not  think  the  gentleman  asks  anything 
unfair ;  we  are  not  here  for  technicalities.  There  has  been  some  little 
objection  to  the  length  of  time  taken  up  with  that  portion  of  the  sub- 
ject and  Mr.  Lubin  has  cut  himself  down  to  less  than  one-half.  There 
is  no  objection  for  all  sides  to  be  heard  on  this  question,  and  I  think  I 
voice  the  sentiment  of  my  colleagues.  If  we  have  asked  anything  that 
is  unjust,  we  are  willing  to  go  before  the  world  with  our  proposition. 
We  are  not  afraid  to  have  it  discussed. 

The  Chairman  :  There  need  be  no  trouble  on  this  question. 

Mr.  Cannon:  Mr.  Chairman,  on  behalf  of  the  Committee  I  will  then 
open  our  side  of  this  case,  with  the  privilege  of  closing  for  our  side,  if 
it  shall  seem  desirable.  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen  of  the  Conven- 
tion, this  duty  falls  upon  one  who  will  perform  it  with  pain  to  himself,  be- 
cause I  was  reared  on  a  farm,  and  I  know  that  the  farmers  are  the  men 
who  support  the  world.  No  man  knows,  however  strong  his  advocacy  of 
this  proposition,  better  than  the  representative  of  the  majority  seport  of 
this  Committee,  the  evils  of  these  times  ;  but  despite  that,  I  stand  here  in 
opposition  to  the  resolution  under  the  minority  report,  because  I  do 
not  believe  that  it  will  answer  the  ends  proposed  by  the  gentlemen  who 
offer  it  here.  It  seems  to  ma  that  it  will  pile  up  mountain  upon  moun- 
tain, of  burden  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  agricultural  population  of  the 
United  States.  It  seems  to  me  that  it  is  a  wrong  remedy,  in  that  it  is, 
first,  impracticable ;  secondly,  that  it  is  special ;  thirdly,  that  it  does 
not  bring  out  the  history  of  these  days  and  the  certainty  of  to-morrow. 
Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  Committee  considered  this  question  only  a 
few  moments  ago,  and  that  there  had  been  little  or  no  time,  as  well  as 


164  Report  of  Proceedings 

expectation  on  nry  part,  for  the  preparation  of  any  statistics,  in  behalf 
of  the  Committee,  and  myself  as  its  representative,  I  must  ask  the  indul- 
gence of  the  audience  if  we  shall  fail  to  make  so  strong  a  case  in  behalf 
of  the  majority  report  as  might  have  been  made  if  further  time  had 
been  allowed. 

First.  We  take  the  proposition,  that  the  final  resolution  is  untrue,  in 
that  it  says  the  only  way  to  enhance  the  value  of  agricultural  products 
in  the  United  States,  is  by  the  payment  of  an  export  bounty. 

Senator  Johnston  :  Will  the  gentleman  allow  me  to  correct  him  — 
my  impression  is  that  the  word  "  only  "  is  stricken  out. 

Mr.  Cannon:  Mr.-  Chairman,  the  word  "only"  has  been  stricken 
out  then  without  any  authority  of  the  Committee,  if  that  be  true,  be- 
cause the  word  "  only  "  appeared  in  the  resolution,  and  in  fact  I  have 
the  original  resolution  here  (reading)  : — 

"  Mesolved,  .That,  inasmuch  as  these  products  are  exports  and  not  imports,  their 
prices  cannot  be  enhanced  by  a  protective  tariff  alone,  no  matter  how  high,  but 
an  increase  of  their  prices  in  our  country  can  only  be  secured  by  the  use  of  a 
limited  portion  of  the  tariff  collected  for  protection  to  pay  a  premium  on 
exported  agricultural  staples." 

Senator  Johnston:  Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  the  original  resolutions 
did  not  read  that  way.  In  our  conference,  we  agreed  to  that,  that  the 
word  "  only  "  should  be  stricken  out;  that  was  our  understanding.  It 
was  our  agreement  to  take  out  the  word  "  only." 

Mr.  Cannon:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  waive  the  point;  I  hold  in  my  hand 
the  original  resolution  and  it  contains  the  word  "  only."  I  will  not 
continue  the  discussion  of  that  point,  if  it  be  waived,  except  to  empha- 
size to  the  attention  of  this  audience  that,  if  the  majority  report  shall 
not  prevail,  in  the  interest  of  truth  the  resolution  should  be  amended 
to  strike  out  the  word  "  only." 

Senator  Johnston  :  I  will  agree  to  that. 

Mr.  Cannon:  I  maintain,  in  behalf  of  the  majority  of  the  Committee, 
that  this  is  an  impracticable  attempt  at  solving  a  great  difficulty.  The 
payment  of  an  export  bounty  upon  agricultural  goods  will  necessarily 
stimulate  the  production  of  the  particular  classes  of  goods.  We  find 
now  that  the  great  difficulty  arises  from  the  fact  that  our  staple  agri- 
cultural products  come  into  competition  with  staples  produced  elsewhere 
in  the  world,  and  a  market  once  our  own  and  remunerative  to  the 
farmer,  once  wealth-giving  to  the  nation,  is  being  lost  to  us  to  nations 
which  have  shown  the  superiority  of  degradation  over  civilization  in  the 
production  of  agricultural  staples  at  low  prices  for  the  world's  demand. 
I  maintain  further  that  it  is  not  only  impracticable  in  a  general 
sense,  but  it  is  impracticable  in  the  sense  of  its  application.  This 
is   a  general  resolution.     We   call  upon   congress   by  this   resolution 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  165 

to  perform  and  put  into  effect  certain  acts.  But  we  have  a  right, 
and  it  is  our  duty,  to  examine  the  character  of  the  law  by  which  such 
bounty  shall  be  paid.  The  idea  is,  I  presume,  to  give  to  the  agricultural 
producer  indirectly  through  the  hands  of  the  exporter  a  certain  premium 
or  bounty,  which  shall  compensate  him  for  the  lack  of  sufficient  price  in 
the  markets  of  the  world.  In  other  words,  if  it  costs  him  80  cents  a 
bushel  for  his  grain  and  he  nets  but  60  cents,  he  is  to  be  paid  in  this 
way,  not  questioning  the  assertion  of  the  devotees  of  the  proposition, 
that  the  money  would  actually  reach  the  farmers  —  he  is  to  be  paid  in 
this  way,  that  20  cents  out  of  a  special  fund  held  by  the  nation  in  trust 
for  him.  What  then  will  be  done  for  a  people  whom  it  costs  90  cents  a 
bushel  to  raise  their  grain?  If  in  California  near  to  the  seaboard, 
almost  within  reach  of  the  Pacific,  a  20  cents  a  bushel  bounty  is 
needed,  what  shall  we  say  of  the  valleys  that  have  to  pay  28  cents  a 
bushel  railroad  toll  to  get  their  grain  to  the  ports  of  the  Pacific  ?  Not 
only  must  we  have  a  sliding  scale  by  which  the  staple  agricultural 
products  will  go  into  the  markets  of  the  world  under  the  bounty,  but 
we  must  have  also  a  liberal  scale  by  which  a  man  further  from  market" 
shall  have  a  higher  bounty  than  the  one  nearer  to  the  seaboard.  I 
place  it  to  you  to  show  the  impracticability  of  a  proposition  of  that 
kind,  and  if  the  law  would  in  its  details  be  impracticable,  then  we  have 
no  right  to  recommend  it. 

I  oppose  the  resolution  because  of  what  goes  with  it.  The  state- 
ment was  made  here  that  we  cannot  protect  an  export,  because  this  is 
class  legislation  in  behalf  of  the  class  that  I  admire  as  much  as  the 
gentleman  who  proposed  it,  but  in  whose  behalf  I  do  not  want  to  see 
invoked  any  class  legislation.  We  have  protection  on  cotton 
goods  —  we  export  them  —  cotton  manufactures,  and,  accord- 
ing to  the  theoiy  of  this  proposition,  'we  must  put  an  ex- 
port bounty  on  manufactured  cotton  goods  because  they  are  not 
protected  by  a  protective  tariff.  We  export  iron  goods  in  large 
quantities.  I  have  here  the  statistics  of  our  exports  for  1892  and 
1893,  the  only  figures  which  the  limited  time  permitted  me  to  obtain. 
Then,  according  to  this  theory,  to  be  absolutely  just,  we  must  put  an 
export  bounty  upon  iron  manufactures.  We  must  put  an  export 
bounty  on  machinery.  Do  you  see  to  what  point  it  would  lead  ?  If 
the  day  shall  ever  be  when  the  United  States  shall  pay  its  indebtedness 
to  the  world,  we  must  export  and  encourage  exports.  That  day  is  not 
here  now.  If  the  export  bounty  shall  be  established  in  this  country,  it 
must  be  just  to  all  classes,  otherwise  it  is  the  kind  of  legislation  which 
our  friends  who  advocate  this  measure  oppose.  I  maintain  that  it  is  not 
necessary  to  discharge  the  debt  of  the  United  States  every  year,  whether 
by  the  shipment  of  agricultural  staples  to  the  extent  that  we  now  export 
them.     The  statement  was  made  here  yesterday,  or  the  day  before, 


166  Report  of  Proceedings 

that  we  import  into  the  United  States  every  year  $100,000,000  worth  of 
sugar.  We  pay  for  it,  according  to  the  theory  of  the  advocates  of  this 
measure,  for  staple  agricultural  products  with  products  sold  in  the 
markets  of  the  world  in  competition  with  the  production  of  the  cheapest 
forms  and  lowest  priced  labor  under  God's  sun,  and  then  we  buy  the 
sugar  in  the  markets  of  the  world  and  bring  it  back  here  and  the 
farmers  pay  the  freight  both  ways.  Instead  of  doing  that,  let  us 
diversify  our  industries,  and  when  we  have  sufficiently  done  that,  that 
we  do  not  import  the  things  that  we  need,  then  we  will  find  the  $600,- 
000,000  of  staple  exports  every  year  reduced  to  $300,000,000.  By  the 
development  of  all  the  industries  in  the  United  States,  we  shall  probably 
find  that  we  do  not  have  need  for  any  considerable  quantity  of  export 
goods  in  order  to  pay  for  import  goods.  But  if  it  shall  be  necessary 
to  export  some  article  in  order  that  we  may  have  money  with  which  to 
discharge  our  obligations  to  the  world,  let  us  first  find  out  how  much 
money  we  actually  need,  and  then  let  us  encourage  all  classes  of 
industries  to  engage  in  that  export. 

The  very  argument  of  the  advocates  of  this  measure  is  the  strongest 
opposition  to  it.  When  they  tell  us  of  the  increased  development  of 
the  new  lands  of  Argentine  and  other  countries  of  Spanish  America  in 
the  production  of  staple  agricultural  goods,  they  tell  us  of  a  menace  to 
the  agricultural  industry  of  the  United  States,  and  they  show  to  us  the 
source  from  which  will  come  the  death  blow  to  our  export  trade  in 
staple  agriculture.  Not  only  Argentine,  a  representative  of  the  new 
countries  of  the  world,  but  the  older  countries  of  earth;  India,  for 
instance,  and  the  old  civilized  nations  rearing  the  crops  with  which  to 
feed  Western  Europe,  and  we  must  come  in  competition  with  them. 
We  cannot  meet  their  crops  to-day,  and  this  resolution  is  a  confession 
of  that  fact.  How  will  we  be  able  to  meet  a  constantly  falling  market 
when  from  every  point  there  comes  into  the  markets  of  the  world  a 
constantly  increasing  surplus? 

My  friends,  the  remedy  is  otherwise  than  as  suggested,  but  the 
remedy  is  so  broad  that  it  comprehends  the  whole  social  and  commer- 
cial system  by  which  men  are  inter-related.  We  talk  about  the  law  of 
supply  and  demand,  but  we  do  not  understand  the  law  of  supply  and 
demand.  We  poor  people  who  are  not  of  the  school  of  political 
economists,  we  look  about  us  and  we  see  the  demand  and  we 
say  that  that  is  as  sacred  a  demand  as  humanity  ever  saw  — 
and  we  see  the  supply  of  labor  going  back  and  forth  idly 
in  the  streets  looking  for  the  toil  it  cannot  find  and  we  say  that  that 
is  as  sacred  a  supply  as  heaven  ever  gave  to  man  There  was  the 
demand  and  there  was  the  supply  and  yet  from  some  mismanagement, 
we  cannot  bring  them  together.  The  remedy  therefore  is  as  broad  as 
the  ends  of  all  humanity  and  it  will  not  be  supplied  by  any  proposition 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  167 

for  class  legislation.  It  must  be  by  the  new  evangel  of  all  peace  for 
earth,  and  I  simply  fear  that  he  is  not  in  this  assemblage.  I  hope  that 
when  he  shall  come  he  may  have  the  gospel  by  which  the  wants  of  man 
are  to  be  supplied  and  the  toil  of  man  is  to  be  constantly  employed ;  — 
he  will  deliver  to  us  a  new  redemption  and  we  will  hail  him  as  a  new 
redeemer  (applause).  My  friends,  there  are  others,  I  trust,  to  speak 
in  behalf  of  the  Committee,  and  I  will  call  upon  Senator  Wilson  of 
South  Dakota,  a  member  of  the  majority,  to  occup}r  ten  minutes  in 
behalf  of  the  majority. 

Senator  S.  E.  Wilson:  Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Con- 
gress, as  a  member  of  your  Committee  on  Resolutions  and  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  sub-committee  to  which  was  referred  the  resolution  now 
before  you,  I  desire  to  say  a  few  words  against  the  adoption  of  this 
resolution  and  in  behalf  of  the  majority  report.  I  do  not  believe  that 
the  American  farmer  needs  protection  under  the  system  of  American 
protection  which  has  been  so  long  in  successful  operation  in  this  country, 
not  by  any  means,  but  for  reasons  that  seem  to  me,  upon  a  casual 
examination  of  this  question,  must  be  apparent  to  this  country.  The 
gentlemen  who  have  advocated  the  adoption  of  this  minority  report, 
are  asking  a  great  deal  from  this  congress,  composed  of  gentlemen  of 
all  classes  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  lawyers,  doctors,  merchants 
and  agricultural  men.  When  the  gentleman  who  advocates  the  proposi- 
tion says  that  it  took  the  State  Grange  six  months  to  deliberate  upon 
this  proposition  before  it  was  adopted,  it  does  seem  to  me  that  in  the 
deliberation  of  a  few  hours  that  we  are  permitted  to  give  to  this  ques- 
tion, it  is  asking  a  great  deal  to  ask  this  congress  to  take  this  advanced 
step  in  favor  of  this  proposition,  that  has  not,  so  far  as  I  know,  received 
any  stable  support  by  either  the  writers  or  speakers  upon  political 
economy  for  the  last  fifty  years. 

Mr.  Roach  :  The  State  Grange  of  California  did  not  have  this  for 
six  months  under  consideration.  The  committee  to  whom  it  was 
referred  had  it  under  consideration  for  six  months. 

Senator  Wilson:  How  large  was  that  committee? 

Mr.  Roach:  Five. 

Senator  Wilson:  Then  that  increased  the  responsibility  which  is 
brought  here,  if  a  committee  of  even  five  members  of  the  State  Grange 
of  the  State  of  California  deliberated  over  the  proposition  for  six 
months. 

Mr.  Roach  :  The  committee  only  meets  twice  a  year. 

Senator  Wilson  :  This  congress  only  meets  once  a  year.  How  long 
does  the  committee  stay  in  session? 

Mr.   Roach  :  Say  about  a  day. 

Senator  Wilson  :  It  is  asking  a  good  deal  of  this  congress  to  take 
up  this  proposition  to  protect  the  American  farmer  —  and  I  am  in  favor 


168  Report  of  Proceedings 

of  protecting  the  American  farmer  as  much  as  anybody  else  in  this 
country,  but  no  more.  He  is  asking  for  a  protection  that  nobody  else 
has  asked,  except  the  sugar  producer,  and. that  is  for  a  purpose  in 
opposition  to  the  reasons  advocated  here  to-day.  If  I  understand  the 
object  of  protection  —  and  I  am  a  protectionist — the  primary  prin- 
ciple and  intention  of  it  is  to  secure  a  diversity  of  industry,  and  these 
resolutions  will  have  exactly  the  opposite  effect  upon  the  interests  of 
the  agriculturists.  Now,  I  asked  that  question  in  the  committee,  but 
they  did  not  undertake  to  answer  it  satisfactorily  to  my  mind.  It  will 
have  an  opposite  result  —  and  why  ?  Because  there  is  a  multitude  of 
agricultural  products  that  cannot  be  so  successfully  produced  as  to 
enable  the  farmer  to  export  them  with  any  degree  of  prosperity. 

Now,  what  would  be  the  tendency  of  this  measure?  It  seems  to  me 
that  it  would  be  to  lessen  the  diversity  of  industries  on  the  part  of 
agriculturists  and  induce  them  to  give  their  attention  to  that  particular 
class  of  agriculture  which  he  may  profitably  develop  to  such  quantities 
that  it  may  be  exported,  and  the  object  of  protection  will  be  thwarted 
by  that  measure. 

I  do  not  know  that  I  am  prepared,  or  that  any  gentleman  is  prepared, 
with  the  consideration  I  have  been  able  to  give  this  question  since  it 
came  up  before  the  committee,  to  follow  out  in  detail  the  effect  that 
the  adoption  of  this  measure  will  have.  I  say,  you  are  asking  more 
than  the  manufacturers  ask.  I  believe  in  a  protective  tariff  upon  com- 
modities shipped  here  in  competition  with  ours.  That  is  all  the  Ameri- 
can manufacturer  asks.  He  does  not  ask  for  a  bounty  upon  what  he 
makes  or  for  a  premium  upon  these  things  if  he  is  beginning  to  export 
them  into  another  country,  that  he  may  thereby  be  induced  to  man- 
ufacture a  greater  quantity,  but  when  the  farmers  of  the  country  are 
asking  that  there  shall  be  an  export  duty  imposed  upon  the  articles 
that  they  produce  in  competition  with  those  produced  by  foreign  agri- 
culturalists, it  seeius  to  me  that  this  is  class  legislation,  and  that  the 
ultimate  effect  upon  protective  measures  in  this  country  is  to  bring  them 
in  disrepute,  rather  than  to  augment  and  increase  the  desirability  of 
protection  for  the  American  people.     I  thank  you,  ladies  and  gentlemen. 

Mr.  Bryan  :  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  there 
are  several  reasons  why,  it  seems  to  me,  that  this  minority  report  ought 
not  to  be  adopted  by  this  convention.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  a  new 
subject  which  has  not  been  considered  by  the  people  who  sent  us,  and 
if  we  should  express  ourselves  on  it  we  might  be  misrepresenting  the 
views  of  those  whom  we  assume  to  serve.  If  we  were  simply  speaking 
for  ourselves,  we  might  exercise  more  freedom  as  to  the  subjects  we 
discuss,  but  I  believe  if  we  want  to  give  force  and  effect  to  the  resolu- 
tions we  do  adopt  in  this  convention,  we  ought  to  take  those  subjects 
which  are  subjects  of  intelligent  discussion  among  the  people,  so  that 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  169 

our  views  will  really  reflect  the  views  of  those  who  sent  us.  So  far  as 
I  know,  this  proposition  made  in  the  minority  report  has  never  been 
seriously  considered  in  any  large  body  of  people.  It  is  true  it  has 
been  introduced  by  some  of  the  granges,  but  it  has  never  been  intro- 
duced in  any  of  the  legislative  bodies,  and  it  introduces  a  principle 
which  is  of  as  great  importance  as  the  question  of  the  tariff. 

Now,  the  principle  involved  in  the  tariff  question  is  whether  we  can 
by  legislation  give  an  additional  advantage  to  persons  engaged  in 
particular  industries.  This  resolution  goes  on  the  theory  that  the 
farmer  is  engaged  in  an  industry  which  cannot  be  benefited  by  other 
means,  and  that  therefore  we  must  apply  a  different  principle  or 
policy  to  him  to  give  him  in  that  way  the  advantage  which  we  give  to 
others  in  a  protective  tariff.  So  that  this  principle  is  as  broad  as  the 
tariff  question,  and  as  has  been  said  by  the  gentleman  from  Utah,  if  we 
are  going  to  apply  it  to  the  farmer  and  give  him  a  bounty  on  his  farm 
products,  then  every  person  who  exports,  will  have  a  right  to  demand 
a  bounty  on  his  exports,  and  we  think  every  person  engaged  in  produc- 
ing a  thing  that  can  be  benefited  by  tariff  will  insist  that  he  ought  to  be 
helped  because  somebody  else  is.  If  we  start  a  system  of  bounty  on 
exports  we  depart  into  a  new  field  just  as  broad  and  full  of  embarrass- 
ments. Now,  this  resolution  is  perhaps  the  only  one  which  refers  to 
the  tariff  in  any  way.  If  I  were  at  liberty  to  discuss  the  question  from 
my  own  standpoint  and  to  express  my  own  convictions  on  the  subject, 
I  would  say  that  it  is  not  wise  to  allow  it  to  the  farmer.  I  doubt  if 
he  would  get  any  advantage  out  of  such  a  system.  His  safety  lies  not 
in  attempting  to  extend  a  vicious  system  to  him,  but  in  protecting 
him  from  the  vicious  system  already  in  existence.  In  other  words, 
the  safety  of  the  farmer  does  not  lie  in  legislation  which  is 
conceived  with  the  idea  of  getting  his  hands  into  somebody  else's 
pocket,  but  his  safety  lies  in  legislation  that  will  keep  other  people's 
hands  out  of  his  own  pockets. 

Mr.  Cannon  :  Mr.  Chairman,  not  knowing  the  gentlemen  present 
and  not  having  any  consultation  with  them  —  there  will  be  five  minutes 
for  any  delegate  who  wishes  to  speak  in  opposition  to  the  minority 
report  now  pending. 

A  Delegate  (from  Iowa) :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  can  readily  see  where 
these  gentlemen  get  their  proposition  for  a  bounty  on  wheat.  The  pro- 
duction of  sugar  in  this  country  is  away  below  the  consumption ;  the 
production  of  wheat  in  this  country  is  in  excess  of  the  consumption,  and 
that  is  the  reason  why  we  cannot  apply  the  principle  of  a  bounty  to  your 
production  of  wheat.  The  advocates  of  a  bounty  on  sugar  assumed 
that  by  that  bounty  they  could  bring  the  production  up  to  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  When  it  reached  that  point, 
they  proposed  to  cease  that  bounty.     Now,  these  gentlemen  start  out 


170  Report  of  Proceedings 

and  do  not  put  that  limit  on.  They  do  not  propose  to  abrogate  that 
bounty  when  they  get  up  to  an  export  basis,  and  the  conditions  are  en- 
tirely different.  The  farmers  certainly  consume  per  capita  as  much 
sugar  as  anybody  else  does,  and  are  benefited  by  this  bounty,  but  they 
cannot  be  benefited  by  a  bounty  on  wheat,  because  you  cannot  make 
that  bounty  fit  every  portion  of  the  country.  These  gentlemen  are  on 
the  Pacific  Coast.  There  they  start  with  cheap  transportation,  ocean 
transportation,  the  cheapest  in  the  world,  because  there  is  no  limit  to  it. 
Why,  they  can  get  out  of  the  harbor  with  water  sufficient  to  load  a 
vessel  to  25  feet.  They  can  get  transportation  that  cannot  be  equaled 
in  cheapness  on  the  earth.  But  what  will  you  do  with  the  people  of 
South  Dakota,  Nebraska,  Kansas  and  Iowa?  Will  they  get  any  benefit 
from  such  a  bounty  as  this?  No,  sir ;  it  will  take  28  cents  per  100  for 
them  to  get  where  those  gentlemen  already  are.  There  is  no  justice  in 
such  a  thing,  and  to  build  it  upon  the  foundation  of  the  bounty  already 
in  effect,  or  which  has  been  repealed —  yet  I  believe  it  is  in  effect  not- 
withstanding it  is  repealed  —  and  it  is  an  injustice  to  this  convention  to 
ask  them  to  act  on  it  for  the  reason  that  it  is  based  on  this  other 
bounty  that  is  as  different  as  day  is  from  night. 

Mr.  Cannon:  Mr.  Chairman,  if  there  is  no  one  else  who  desires 
to  speak  for  the  majority  side  of  this  question,  we  will  now  consider 
our  case  closed  with  the  few  words  which  I  wish  to  say. 

Senator  Johnston :  Do  you  mean  to  occupy  your  time  now? 

Mr.  Cannon:  I  am  not  permitted  to  occupy  my  time  now  —  you  have 
the  floor. 

Senator  Johnston:  Mr.  Lubin  has  the  floor  to  close.  We  have  only 
occupied  three-quarters  of  an  hour. 

Mr.  Cannon  :  If  all  your  speakers  except  the  closing  one  will  now  take 
the  floor,  it  will  be  a  gratification  to  us,  as  there  are  some  of  your 
arguments  which  no  doubt  I  have  not  heard.  I  will  close  immediately 
preceding  Mr.  Lubin. 

The  Chairman:  The  request  is  made  that  you  speak  now,  Senator 
Johnston,  excepting  your  final  closing  remarks,  and  that  the  majority 
side  have  the  opportunity  of  replying  to  any  new  argument  that  you  may 
advance,  and  you  have  the  closing  five  minutes. 

Mr.  Bryan  announced  that  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  would  meet 
at  2  o'clock. 

Question  :  Will  the  sub-committees  report  to  your  committee  by  that 
time  ? 

Mr.  Bryan:  The  sub-committees  have  nearly  all  reported. 

Question  :  Will  you  inform  them  all  so  that  they  can  report  ? 

Mr.  Bryan  :  Yes,  sir ;  I  will. 

The  Entertainment  Committee  announced  that  tickets  were  provided 
for  all  delegates  to  the  theaters  to-night  and  to-morrow  night,  and 
explained  where  to  get  them. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  171 

Mr.  Savage  of  Kansas  then  moved  to  adjourn. 

Mr.  Cannon:  Mr.  Chairman,  by  agreement  with  Senator  Johnston 
of  California,  not  more  than  twenty-five  minutes  at  the  outside  will  be 
occupied  in  concluding  this  matter,  as  we  will  waive  part  of  our  time, 
and  I  trust  the  discussion  may  be  finished  at  this  session. 

Motion  to  adjourn  withdrawn. 

A.  J.  Wedderburn  (of  California) :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  do  not  intend 
to  occupy  but  a  very  few  minutes  of  the  time  of  this  convention.  I 
have  listened  with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure  to  the  gentleman  from 
Utah  and  to  the  Senator  from  Dakota  and  to  the  distinguished  gentle- 
man from  Nebraska.  I  am  thoroughly  incapable  of  entering  into  a 
combat  with  men  of  that  caliber.  I  am  simply  talking  as  a  plain, 
unvarnished  farmer.  I  will  try  in  my  plain  way  to  answer  some  of  the 
arguments  of  the  gentleman  from  Utah.  He  says  that  the  scheme  is 
impracticable,  and  I  say  it  has  not  been  found  to  be  impracticable  when 
applied  to  manufactures.  The  manufacturer  has  received  a  bounty  all 
the  way  through.  You  cannot  make  a  tariff  anything  else  than  a 
bounty.  That  is  the  absolute  fact  and  it  cannot  be  disputed.  We 
come  here  in  behalf  of  the  farmer  of  this  country  and  ask  for  equality 
and  do  not  want  anything  else.  The  gentleman  says  he  favors  equality, 
and  we  ask  him  to  do  just  what  he  says  he  is  willing  to  do.  He  says 
he  opposes  special  legislation,  and  I  tell  you  that  the  grange,  from  its 
foundation  in  1866  to  1873,  when  it  announced  the  broad  policy  of  this 
country,  was  in  antagonism  to  special  legislation,  and  my  colleagues 
here  who  represent  that  motion  in  this  delegation  are  decidedly  opposed 
to  any  such  idea.  We  do  not  want  special  legislation.  We  stand  upon 
a  broad  platform  here  to-day  and  demand  equality  before  the  law,  and 
equality  in  taxation.  That  is  the  only  thing  we  want,  nothing  else, 
nothing  more. 

The  gentleman  has  spoken  about  California  and  her  nearness  to  the 
seaboard.  If  he  would  take  the  facts,  he  will  find  that  on  the  eastern 
seaboard  wheat  is  selling  for  50  cents  a  bushel,  in  California  35  cents, 
in  Oregon  31  cents,  in  Washington  25  cents.  These  are  facts,  and  it 
costs  more  to  produce  that  wheat  than  it  brings  in  the  Open  market. 
The  report  from  the  Department  of  Agriculture  issued  in  1893  brings 
out  these  facts:  that  to  produce  corn  in  this  country  in  1893  cost 
$3.65  per  acre  more  than  it  brought ;  that  to  produce  wheat  in  this 
country  in  the  year  1893  costs  $5.85  per  acre  more  than  the 
farmer  got  for  it;  to  produce  cotton  cost  at  present  price  6  cents  a 
pound,  and  it  is  selling  at  4  cents  a  pound.  Now,  these  are  facts, 
gentlemen.  We  are  not  here  pleading  for  anything  but  right  and 
justice.  We  are  here,  asking  you,  the  representatives  of  the  mercan- 
tile interests  of  this  great  country,  as  representatives  of  the  mining 
interests  of  this  great  country  —  we  are  asking  you  not  to  see  killed 


172  .  Report  of  Proceedings 

the  goose  that  has  laid  the  golden  egg,  that  is  helping  you  along,  upon 
which  you  live  and  upon  which  the  eastern  manufacturer  lives ;  we  are 
asking  you  to  protect  and  save  the  life  of  this  goose ;  that  is  all  we 
want.  We  know  we  are  considered  geese  by  the  majority  of  mercantile 
men.  We  know  we  are  nothing  but  clod-hoppers,  but  we  have  certain 
rights  and  we  come  in  justice  and  in  equity  and  ask  you  to  give  us  those 
rights.  Take  wheat,  cotton,  tobacco,  beef  and  pork,  and  take  the  prices 
to-day  —  and  some  gentlemen  here  in  their  speeches  yesterday  showed 
how  nearly  they  were  allied  to  silver — most  of  you  gentlemen  are 
silver  men  and  indorse  the  silver  idea.  I  see  before  me  one  of  the  first 
members  of  the  Bi-Metallic  League  when  it  was  organized  in  the  United 
States.  I  believe  in  the  white  metal,  but  I  tell  you  it  is  too  close  a 
friend  to  these  agricultural  products  for  you  not  to  recognize  that  they 
must  have  their  right  share  and  justice  under  this  Government,  as  well 
as  the  white  metal.  The  eastern  manufacturers  have  their  bounty  and 
we  should  have  ours. 

Now,  the  gentlemen  from  Utah  and  South  Dakota  both  said  that 
there  was  no  bounty  upon  exports,  which  shows  that  they  have  not 
looked  into  this  question.  The  manufacturer  of  the  East  is  allowed  to 
bring  his  pig  iron,  his  steel,  any  commodity  that  is  protected,  no  matter 
how  high  —  he  is  allowed  to  bring  it  into  this  country,  manufacture  it 
into  agricultural  machinery  and  every  other  kind  of  machinery  that  he 
chooses,  and  when  that  product  is  exported  he  is  given  99  cents  bounty 
back  on  every  dollar  that  he  has  paid.  Are  they  not  protected  again? 
These  are  facts,  and  you  ought  to  look  at  them  fairly  and  squarely  and 
do  agriculture  justice.     These  resolutions  here  are  not  wrong. 

The  gentleman  of  the  sub-committee  said  that  he  did  not  find  any 
fault  with  the  whereas  nor  with  the  first  resolution,  but  he  found  fault 
with  the  last  of  these,  calling  it  an  impractical  proposition.  Well,  if  it 
is  impractical,  you  have  got  to  find  some  way  to  protect  the  farmer, 
and  that  is  all  we  want. 

Senator  Johnston  :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  will  only  occupy  a  moment  or 
two,  because  the  time  is  getting  short,  but  there  is  a  question  we  would 
like  you  to  consider.  We  come  over  from  the  Pacific  Coast,  asking  you 
people  from  Utah,  from  Kansas,  from  Arkansas,  from  Iowa  and  all  the 
other  places  this  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to  come  over  and  help 
us  as  you  will  be  asking  us  to  come  over  and  help  you.  I  see  before 
me  gentlemen  who  have  been  accustomed  to  deal  with  questions  of 
practical  experience  and  with  questions  of  political  economy,  and  I  ask 
you,  gentlemen,  have  any  of  you  ever  been  in  a  legislative  body  and 
found  a  single  individual  coming  up  there  with  a  proposition  entirely 
alone,  that  he  was  successful  in  carrying  that  proposition  into  a  law? 
Such  a  thing  hardly  ever  occurs.  Now,  if  I  understand  the  object  of 
this  Trans-Mississippi  Congress,  it   is  for  the  purpose  of   conferring 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  173 

together  with  the  people  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  in  order  that  we 
may  assist  each  other  in  demanding  our  rights  from  the  people  east  of 
the  Alleghanies.  I  say  to  you,  gentlemen  of  this  Congress,  that  there 
is  very  little  sympathy  in  the  people  east  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains 
with  those  that  are  west  of  the  Mississippi  river.  I  have  been  among 
those  people,  I  have  been  with  them,  and  trying  to  persuade  them  to 
assist  us  in  projects  that  we  have  in  hand.  They  are  not  interested  in 
our  agriculture.  They  have  a  good  home  market.  They  are  protected 
and  we  are  not.  Now,  this  is  a  problem  that  is  within  the  power  of 
this  Congress ;  it  is  within  the  power  of  the  people  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi river  to  solve  this  problem  of  political  economy.  The  irriga- 
tionists  come  here  to  present  us  with  a  key  or  a  panacea  for  all  the  ills 
that  this  republic  is  heir  to.  The  silver  men  come  and  state  that  they 
have  the  key  which  will  unlock  this  problem.  The  Nicaragua  canal 
people  come  and  say  that  they  think  that  these  are  all  subsidiary  ques- 
tions and  should  not  be  considered,  but  give  them  the  Nicaragua  canal 
and  they  think  they  would  be  happy. 

Now,  the  agriculturists  come  here.  We  do  not  say  to  you  that  we 
have  the  only  problem  to  present  that  will  relieve  us  at  this  time.  But 
I  tell  you,  gentlemen  of  this  congress,  that  the  key  to  unlock  this  prob- 
lem has  many  slots.  It  is  not  a  key  of  a  single  slot  that  you  can  thrust 
into  the  lock  and  turn  the  lock.  If  you  are  going  to  have  any  strength, 
if  you  are  going  to  do  anything  for  this  part  of  the  country,  all  of  these 
slots  must  be  properly  adjusted.  This  key  ha3  a  slot  for  silver,  a  slot 
for  irrigation  and  a  slot  for  the  Nicaragua  canal,  and  it  will  have  the 
largest  slot  for  the  agricultural  interests  of  this  country.  Now,  then, 
gentlemen  of  this  convention,  you  take  this  key  that  belongs  west  of 
the  Mississippi  river,  this  key  that  we  all  adhere  to  —  if  the  irrigation- 
ists  are  right  in  their  proposition,  grant  them  what  they  demand ;  if 
the  silver  men  are  right,  grant  them  what  they  want ;  if  the  Nicaragua 
canal  men  are  right,  grant  them  what  they  ask.  Those  of  us  who  are 
in  favor  of  the  agricultural  proposition,  we  tillers  of  the  soil,  believe 
that  these  people  will  assist  us  in  our  position  and  in  the  welfare  of  the 
country.  Now,  then,  with  this  key  of  many  slots,  let  us  all  grasp  it, 
thrust  it  into  the  lock  of  this  political  economy  of  ours  and  turning  the 
bolt  we  will  solve  the  problem. 

Mr.  Cannon:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  shall  be  very  brief  and  would  not 
speak,  except  my  position  in  the  Committee  seems  to  compel  it.  Here 
is  the  key  with  five  slots  and  no  more  (showing  a  key).  So  long  as 
those  slots  fit  the  ward  of  the  lock,  we  can  unlock  the  problem,  but 
the  moment  you  put  a  false  slot  in  that  key,  you  destroy  the  entire 
problem. 

Senator  Johnston  :  We  are  the  big  slot. 

Mr.  Cannon  :  If  this  is  in  the  wrong  place  in  the  problem,  you  destroy 


174  Report  of  Proceedings 

the  value  of  it  all.  In  behalf  of  the  majority  of  the  committee,  we  in- 
sist it  should  be  the  sense  of  the  congress  that  this  is  a  dangerous  propo- 
sition for  us  to  advance  before  the  country  at  the  present  time.  Equity 
before  the  law  is  demanded  and  justice  in  behalf  of  the  agriculturalists. 
A  general  tariff  bill  was  passed,  protecting  all  the  industries  of  the 
United  States,  not  a  perfect  bill  by  any  means,  but  as  nearly  perfect 
as  human  intelligence,  acting  through  the  several  parties  which  may  be 
from  time  to  time  in  power,  may  permit.  Agricultural  products  are 
brought  into  this  country  in  vast  quantities,  just  as  manufactured  prod- 
ucts are  exported  in  large  quantities.  We  bring  potatoes  from  Scot- 
land, barley  from  Russia.  The  other  day  117,000  bushels  of  Russian 
barley  came  into  the  United  States. 

The  gentleman  who  did  not  want  to  contend  against  men  of  such 
large  caliber  as  a  member  of  Congress  and  as  well  equipped  for  this 
fray,  furnished  to  us  the  very  best  evidence  which  we  want.  He  said 
that  this  bounty  must  not  only  be  on  a  scale  up  and  down,  but  it  must 
also  be  on  a  lateral  scale,  extending  from  the  Atfantic  to  the  Pacific, 
and  he  furnished  the  evidence  of  that  by  saying  that  wheat  brought  31 
cents  in  Oregon,  in  Washington  25  cents,  in  California  35  cents  and 
on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  50  cents.  Then  we  must  have  a  scale  for 
every  city  and  every  State  in  the  United  States. 

Senator  Johnston:  This  proposition  is  to  make  an  equal  division. 
If  you  get  a  bounty  of  5  cents  in  Utah,  then  it  will  be  5  cents  in  San 
Francisco  and  in  every  other  place  where  you  have  wheat ;  the  scale 
does  not  propose  to  slide  from  one  State  to  another. 

Mr.  Cannon:  Mr.  Chairman  and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  That  is 
very  well  for  California  or  for  the  producer  of  staple  agriculture  on  the 
Atlantic  coast,  but  how  far  is  5  cents  a  bushel  going  to  go  with  the 
farmer  of  Dakota  or  Nebraska,  who  may  have  to  pay  28  cents  a  bushel 
to  get  his  wheat  to  the  same  point  ? 

Senator  Johnston:  He  would  be  5  cents  better  off. 

Mr.  Cannon  :  If  the  government  has  the  right  to  make  him  5  cents 
better  off,  let  it  make  him  the  whole  28  cents  better  off  at  once. 

Mr.  Lubin:  It  has  been  stated  that  the  matter  is  obscure.  The 
gentlemen  who  say  so  have  evidently  not  kept  themselves  posted. 
The  press  from  one  end  of  this  land  to  another,  and  some  of  the  most 
important  journals  in  the  country,  and  some  from  foreign  countries, 
have  taken  this  matter  up.  It  would  be  different  if  the  bounty  was  an 
enormous  sum.  Wheat  is  45  cents  now  and  it  was  $1.30,  but  it  cannot 
stimulate  it  very  much  with  a  5  or  6  or  7  cent  bounty.  Mr.  Cannon 
and  Mr.  Bryan  both  stated  that  if  staples  received  a  bounty,  other 
exports  will  ask  a  bounty.  Just  so  — and  they  have  it,  and  I  have  here 
in  my  hand  a  paper  that  is  talking  against  this  very  bounty  that  the 
manufacturers  receive,  and  there  is  probably  not  one  in  this  room  who 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  17 o 

knows  anything  about  it.  He  receives  back  99  per  cent  on  every 
dollar's  worth  of  goods. 

Mr.  Cannon  :  May  I  ask  the  gentleman  a 'question  ?  —  I  hope  the  gen- 
tleman would  not  propose  to  convey  the  idea  that  the  manufacturer 
receives  back  99  per  cent  of  every  dollar  of  export  of  manufactured 
goods. 

Mr.  Lubin:  Ninety-nine  per  cent  of  the  tariff  duties  that  have  been 
paid. 

Mr.  Cannon  :  Ninety-nine  per  cent  of  the  duty  paid  upon  the  raw  ma- 
terial imported  into  this  country  with  which  to  maintain  manufactured 
goods  for  export  —  isn't  that  a  fact? 

Mr.  Lubin  :  Most  decidedly  —  it  is  all  right  for  one  side  of  the 
house.  People  say,  "  We  are  for  protection."  No  man  is  more  for 
protection  than  I  am,  but  I  want  justice.  How  eloquent  and  grand 
they  can  be  and  how  attractive  their  speech!  But  what  is  there  in  it? 
See,  here  are  the  protected  men,  here  are  the  unprotected  men  —  and 
what  about  the  unprotected  men?  The  American  Protective  Tariff 
League  said,  "We  applaud  you  for  your  grand  protective  tariff." 
They  sent  to  us  and  asked  us  for  a  liberal  subscription.  I  said  to  them 
in  reply,  "  Yes,  Mr.  Treasurer  of  the  American  Protective  Tariff 
League,  I  will  give  you  a  contribution  if  you  are  deserving  of  it.  Here 
is  $1,000.00  deposited  in  the  bank  of  D.  O.  Mills  &  Co.  Take  this 
money  if  your  cause  is  right.  If  your  cause  is  wrong  you  shall  not 
have  it.  It  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  men  well  known,  John  T.  Ely, 
Hon.  John  Wannamaker,  Samuel  Gompers,  Senator  Chandler  and 
others.  It  was  to  be  referred  to  the  Executive  Committee.  They 
were  to  answer  in  90  days.  That  time  is  about  gone.  They  dare  not 
reply,  because  they  are  wrong  and  they  know  it,  and  every  man  that 
has  spoken  to-day  knows  that  he  is  wrong,  because  staple  agriculture 
is  not  protected  and  cannot  be  protected.  We  must  protect  our  prod- 
ucts, or  we  must  close  the  gates  of  our  country.  It  has  been  com- 
mented upon  by  the  leading  journals.  If  it  is  premature  for  this 
convention,  let  some  one  offer  a  resolution,  not  to  kill  it  now,  but  to 
submit  it  next  year  if  it  is  so  desired.  If  this  convention  decides 
against  it,  they  decide  against  right  and  equity. 

Gov.  Waite  :  Though  I  am  not  on  the  programme,  I  would  like  to 
speak  about  two  minutes  on  this. 

On  motion  Gov.  Waite  was  granted  permission  to  speak. 

Gov.  Waite  :  This  matter  is  opposed  because  it  is  to  be  a  bounty. 
Does  not  the  law  provide  that  the  importer  may  put  his  goods  in  the 
warehouse  of  the  United  States  and  hold  them  there  for  a  year  without 
the  payment  of  imports  —  is  not  that  a  bounty  ?  Is  not  the  law  that 
provides  that  the  distiller  can  take  his  product  after  being  manufac- 
tured into  whisky  and  store  it  in  Government  warehouses  and  let  it 


176  Report  of  Proceedings 

lie  there  for  two  years  and  save  the  payment  of  its  taxes  for  four  years 
or  even  seven  years,  and  an  arrangement  made  by  which  the  whisky 
lost  by  evaporation  shall  be  made  up  to  him  —  is  not  that  a  bounty  ? 
And  yet  these  gentlemen  are  astonished  here  because  it  is  proposed  to 
give  a  bounty.  That  is  just  what  this  Government  has  been  doing  for 
years  and  years.  I  was  educated  as  a  protectionist.  We  have  to-day 
here  a  condition  of  affairs  in  this  country  in  which  the  wheat,  the  corn, 
the  cotton,  every  staple  article  of  production  is  being  produced  at  less 
than  cost.  The  Democratic  party  has  just  lost  its  crop  in  this  country 
in  consequence  of  that  condition  (laughter),  and  I  wish  to  say  to  the 
Republican  party,  who  are  about  to  assume  the  government  of  this 
country,  that  unless  they  change  that  condition  they  will  also  go  to 
Hades. 

There  were  calls  for  the  question  on  the  motion  to  substitute  the 
minority  report  for  the  majority  report  and  the  resolution  was  again 
read. 

Senator  Johnston  :  Mrs  Chairman,  I  desire  to  have  the  word  "  only  " 
stricken  out,  because  that  was  our  agreement. 

The  Chairman:  Is  there  any  objection  to  striking  out  the  word 
"  only?"     It  can  only  be  done  by  unanimous  consent. 

It  was  then  moved,  seconded  and  carried  that  this  question  be  referred 
to  the  next  session  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Congress. 

The  Secretary  then  read  the  following  letter  received  from  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Mississippi  River  Commission. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  November  27,  1894.  . 
Mr.  6eo.  H.  Morgan,  Secretary, 

"The  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress, 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  communication  of 
this  date,  extending  an  invitation  to  the  members  of  the  Mississippi  River  Com- 
mission to  attend  the  present  session  of  your  body  now  convened  in  this  city. 

I  will  immediately  transmit  copies  of  your  letter  to  each  of  the  members  of 
the  Commission,  only  one  of   whom,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Chas.  R.  Suter,  is  in 

the  city. 

Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

Geo.  A.  Zinn, 
1st  Lieut.  Corps  of  Engineers, 
Secretary  Mississippi  River  Commission. 

(Letters  were  subsequently  received  from  Gen.  C.  B.  Comstock, 
President,  and  R.  S.  Taylor,  Esq.,  a  member  of  the  Commission, 
expressing  regret  that  they  were  unable  to  attend  the  Congress  as 
requested.) 

The  session  then  adjourned. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  Ill 

Wednesday  Afternoon  Session. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  at  2:30  p.  m.  by  President  Cannon. 

The  Chairman  announced  that  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  had 
passed  a  resolution  that  a  special  order  be  made  if  possible  for  the 
representative  from  Alaska  to  have  half  an  hour  set  apart  some  time 
to-day.  I  learn  from  him,  Mr.  Green,  that  he  would  like  to  give  some 
stereopticon  views  of  the  scenery  of  Alaska,  which  he  says  will  be  very 
interesting  to  the  members  of  the  Congress  to  see,  and  he  would  appre- 
ciate it  if  half  an  hour  could  be  set  apart  for  him.  What  hour  will 
you  set?  The  subjects  before  the  Congress  this  afternoon,  as  arranged 
by  the  Committee  on  Rules  and  Order  of  Business  are  Transportation, 
Railroads,  Public  and  Arid  Lands.  This  evening  papers  on  two  dif- 
ferent subjects  will  be  read,  on  the  Nicaragua  Canal  and  Hawaiian  ques- 
tion. Mr.  Craig  of  California  intends  to  speak  on  Hawaii  and  Prof. 
DeKalb  will  deliver  an  address  on  the  Nicaragua  Canal.  There  will  be 
a  short  paper  by  Prof.  Waterhouse  on  the  Nicaragua  Canal  and  a  paper 
by  Capt  W.  L.  Merry  of  San  Francisco  on  the  same  subject.  Prof. 
DeKalb' s  paper  will  occupy  three-quarters  of  an  hour  to  an  hour. 

It  was  then  arranged  that  the  views  on  Alaska  be  presented  at  the 
opening  in  the  evening. 

Mr.  Castle:  Mr.  Chairman,  in  behalf  of  the  California  delegation 
I  introduce  a  memorial  on  the  subject  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal.  That 
memorial  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  and  I  am  asked 
to  present  the  following  resolution  as  adopted  by  that  committee :  — 

Besolved,  That  the  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress  respectfully 
and  urgently  requests  legislative  action  on  behalf  of  the  prompt  construction 
of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  under  the  control  and  supervision  of  the  government  of 
the  United  States. 

I  move  the  adoption  of  this  report.     Carried  unanimously. 

The  Chairman:  The  subjects  now  before  the  Congress  are  Trans- 
portation, Railroads,  Public  and  Arid  Lands. 

Mr.  Fisk  :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  do  not  wish  to  take  up  any  of  the  sub- 
jects named.  I  would  just  like  the  indulgence  of  the  Congress  for  one 
moment  to  say  that  the  object  of  these  Congresses  in  convening  them 
was  that  the  industrial  interests  might  formulate  some  plan  to  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  National  Congress,  that  they  might  have  an  equal  show 
with  the  East,  which  has  always  been  organized.  Now,  in  all  these 
Congresses,  we  have  been  represented  by  the  mayors  of  cities,  by 
county  commissioners  and  by  business  organization.  If  the  West  is  to 
be  represented  at  this  Congress,  and  the  South,  or  all  the  trans- 
Mississippi  countries,  I  submit  that  we  ought  to  invite  the  industrial 
classes  to  join  our  deliberations,  and  I  want  to  move  now  that  at  the 
next   session  of  this  Congress  the  Farmer's  Alliance  and  Industrial 


178  Report  of  Proceedings 

Unions,  the  Trades  Assemblies  and  Knights  of  Labor  be  admitted  to 
the  same  representation  as  the  commercial  organizations  now  have. 

It  was  moved  that  this  motion  be  referred  to  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions. 

Mr.  Fisk:  I  move,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  we  consider  it  now. 

The  Chairman  :  There  is  something  else  before  us  and  we  will  prob- 
ably forget  that.  It  seems  to  the  Chair  a  question  of  this  importance 
should  be  considered  with  a  fuller  house  or  after  more  mature  delibera- 
tion. It  is  not  that  the  Chair  has  any  preference  in  the  matter,  but  we 
have  now  before  us  a  large  number  of  resolutions,  which  have  been 
passed  upon  by  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  who  are  ready  to  report 
these  resolutions,  having  sent  them  in  for  that  purpose,  and  to  inject 
this  into  the  midst  of  the  discussion  would  scarcely  be  fair  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Resolutions  and  to  the  gentlemen  who  have  introduced  the 
resolutions  which  have  been  acted  upon.  However,  it  is  for  the 
congress  to  decide. 

A  Delegate  (from  Arkansas) :  Mr.  Chairman,  it  seems  to  me  that 
this  resolution  ought  to  be  referred  to  the  Executive  Committee,  be- 
cause the  Committee  on  Resolutions  will  soon  go  out  of  existence,  and 
this  resolution  has  a  bearing  on  the  future  work  of  this  organization. 
The  Executive  Committee  being  a  standing  committee,  should  take  that 
under  advisement  and  govern  themselves  accordingly. 

The  Chairman  :  Do  you  make  a  motion  to  that  effect  ? 

The  Delegate  :  I  make  a  motion  that  it  be  referred  to  the  Execu- 
tive Committee. 

The  motion  was  seconded  and  carried. 

A  number  of  resolutions  reported  by  the  Committee  on  Resolutions 
were  then  read  and  adopted. 

The  Chairman:  Here  are  a  number  of  resolutions,  which  it  will 
take  a  long  time  to  read.  They  are  all  on  one  subject,  in  reference  to 
the  Oakland  Harbor  and  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  rivers,  Islais 
Creek  and  Puget  Sound. 

A  Delegate  :  I  ask  what  reference  there  is  to  Puget  Sound  in  these 
resolutions? 

Col.  Leighton:  Those  refer  only  to  harbors  within  the  State  of 
California  and  Washington.  It  seems  to  me  that  some  of  the  members 
of  those  delegations  could  enlighten  the  congress  very  quickly  upon  the 
subject.  It  seems  to  me  it  is  a  very  doubtful  policy  for  the  congress  to 
pass  any  resolutions  of  a  general  character  without  knowing  what  they 
are  voting  for. 

Mr  Craig:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  call  up  the  motion  on  the  Oakland 
Harbor  resolution,  as  presented  bjT  the  Produce  Exchange  of  the  city  of 
Oakland. 

This  motion  was  seconded. 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  1791 

A  Delegate  :  Mr.  Chairman,  as  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Reso- 
lutions, I  desire  to  renew  my  question  as  to  this  resolution  referring  to 
Puget  Sound.  There  is  a  resolution  which  has  been  adopted  by  the 
committee  regarding  the  fortification  of  Puget  Sound.  I  simply  desire 
to  know  whether  that  is  included. 

Mr.  Craig  :  Mr.  President,  as  far  as  the  Oakland  resolutions  are 
concerned,  they  speak  for  themselves.  I  understand  that  my  motion  is 
now  before  the  house  and  it  should  be  adopted ;  it  has  been  duly 
seconded. 

Mr.  Ridgeley  (of  Kansas) :  Mr.  President,  before  taking  action  or 
voting  favorably  upon  this  motion,  I  wish  to  ask  a  question.  From 
my  limited  knowledge  of  the  improvements  heretofore  carried  on  at 
Oakland  Harbor  by  the  United  States  Government,  the  chief  benefits 
have  accrued  to  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  Company.  I  wish  to 
inquire  as  to  what  will  be  the  result,  or  who  will  be  the  chief  recipient 
of  the  benefits,  if  we  impose  upon  the  people  of  the  United  States 
further  improvements  of  this  harbor.     I  simply  ask  for  information. 

Mr.  Craig  :  For  the  last  twenty  years  the  U.  S.  Government  has  had 
that  work  in  hand,  with  a  corps  of  engineers,  and  the  work  has  been  done 
a  little  piece  at  a  time,  and  it  is  suffering  now  in  consequence  of  not 
being  completed.  This  is  not  a  question  between  the  city  of  Oakland 
and  the  railroad  —  that  question  is  now  in  our  Supreme  Court,  and  we 
have  every  reason  to  believe  it  will  be  decided  in  favor  of  the  city  of 
Oakland.  This  is  simply  requesting  those  at  Washington  having  this 
work  in  charge  to  go  on  with  the  work  and  finish  it  up.  It  is  a  burning 
question  between  the  city  of  Oakland  and  the  railroad  people,  and  we 
have  got  them  on  the  run.  We  expect  to  have  a  wharf  at  the  end  of 
every  street  going  down  to  the  water.  We  don't  ask  for  an  appropria- 
tion.    The  resolution  is  as  follows:  — 

Besolved,  That  we  recognize  the  injury  that  has  been  done  to  the  city  of 
Oakland  and  its  commercial  interests  by  the  long  delay  in  completing  the 
improvement  of  its  harbor,  and  we  urge  upon  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  not  only  on  economic  grounds,  but  also  because  of  its  imperative 
necessity,  that  an  appropriation  sufficient  to  finish  the  work  be  at  once  made, 
and  that  Oakland  be  also  made  a  port  of  delivery. 

It  was  then  moved  that  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Resolu- 
tions be  given  an  opportunity  to  appear  in  person. 

Mr.  Bryan:  No  —  finish  that  up. 

The  question  was  then  put  and  the  resolution  adopted. 

Now,  answering  the  question  of  the  gentleman  from  Washington 
concerning  the  character  of  the  resolution  about  Puget  Sound,  it  is  as 
follows:  — 

"  Besolved,  That  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  is  urgently  requested  to 


180  Report  of  Proceedings 

take  immediate  steps  for  the  adequate  defense  of  Puget  Sound  by  means  of 
war  vessels  regularly  stationed  there  and  by  suitable  fortifications  on  the 
shore." 

On  motion  duly  seconded  and  carried,  this  resolution  was  adopted. 

The  Chairman  :  Now,  there  are  remaining  resolutions  concerning  the 
Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  rivers  and  Islais  creek. 

Senator  Johnston:  I  will  read  the  resolutions,  and  premise  by  say- 
ing that  this  is  diametrically  opposed  to  the  interests  of  the  Central 
Pacific  Railroad,  because  we  desire  to  get  cheap  water  navigation  right 
alongside  of  their  railroad.  There  is  a  long  preamble  here  and  I  will 
not  occupy  your  time  reading  it  (reading):  — 

Besolved)  As  the  sense  of  this  Congress,  that  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  should  make  sufficient  appropriations  for,  and  cause  to  be  done,  such 
work  of  impounding  mining  debris  as  may  permit  hydraulic  mining  without  its 
causing  injury  to  the  navigable  waters  of  the  State  and  to  adjacent  lands,  and 
should  provide  necessary  appropriations  for  improving  and  maintaining  the 
navigation  of  such  streams. 

This  resolution  was  then  duly  seconded  and  adopted. 

Mr.  Bryan:  I  have  a  report  here  on  the  coinage  question,  and 
before  reading  these  reports  I  ask  that  an  agreement  be  made  as  to  the 
time  of  taking  the  vote.  I  have  conferred  with  Gov.  Stanard,  who 
represents  the  minority,  and  he  and  I  have  agreed  upon  twenty-five 
minutes  on  a  side  to  discuss.  If  that  is  agreeable  to  all  I  ask  unani- 
mous consent  that  the  time  for  a  vote  be  fixed  at  20  minutes  after  4. 

There  was  no  objection. 

Mr.  Bryan  then  presented  the  majority  report  of  the  Committee 
upon  Resolutions,  as  follows:  — 

Besolved,  First  —  That  in  direct  opposition  to  the  plan  known  as  the 
Baltimore  plan  the  sense  of  this  convention  is  that  all  issues  of  paper  money 
should  be  by  the  general  government.  Second  —  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this 
convention  that  the  pending  proposition  for  a  reformation  of  our  paper  currency 
is  One  that, in  our  judgment,  would  create  additional  and  perhaps  insurmountable 
difficulties  to  the  return  to  bimetallism,  and  that  we  are  opposed  to  the  same. 
Third  —  That  in  any  currency  reform  acted  upon,  we  demand  that  a  constituent 
part  thereof  shall  be  the  remonetization  of  silver  or  that  it  shall  be  of  such  a 
character  as  to  be  no  impediment  to  our  return  to  bimetallism  as  it  existed 
prior  to  1 873. 

Whereas,  An  appreciating  money  standard  impairs  all  contracts,  bankrupts 
enterprise,  makes  idle  money  profitable  by  increasing  its  purchasing  power,  and 
suspends  productive  forces  of  our  people ;  and 

Whereas,  The  spoliation  consequent  upon  the  outlawry  of  silver  in  the 
interest  of  the  creditor  class  by  constantly  increasing  the  value  of  gold  is 
underminding  all  industrial  society; 

Therefore,  We  demaud  the  immediate  restoration  of  the  free  and  unlimited 
coinage  of  gold  and  silver  at  the  present  ratio  of  16  to  1  without  waiting  for 
the  aid  or  consent  of  any  other  nation  on  earth. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  181 

Mr.  Byran:  Mr.  Chairman,  in  order  to  bring  the  matter  before  the 
convention,  I  move  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  reported  by  the 
Committee,  and  yield  to  the  minority  member. 

Senator  Johnston:  Mr.  Chairman,  before  we  enter  upon  the  discus- 
sion I  desire  to  settle  the  question  of  voting.  I  move  that  each  dele- 
gation that  are  here  present  vote  the  entire  vote  that  the  delegation  is 
entitled  to,  on  the  final  issue  of  this  question. 

The  Chair  would  suggest  that  the  chairman  of  each  delegation  be 
prepared  to  report  the  number  of  votes  unanimously  cast  by  his  dele- 
gation, or  divided  as  they  may  be,  so  that  it  will  save  the  time  of  the 
congress,  and  in  his  absence  let  some  other  member  of  the  delegation 
do  so.  With  that  understanding,  is  the  congress  ready  for  the  motion 
of  Senator  Johnston? 

Senator  Johnston:  The  motion  is  that  the  delegates  present  cast 
the  entire  vote  that  the  delegation  is  entitled  to,  whether  they  are  all  in 
their  seats  or  not.  By  this  means  we  can  poll  our  delegation  before 
roll-call,  or  some  member  of  the  delegation  can  rise  and  announce  the 
vote  of  the  delegation. 

The  motion  was  not  adopted. 

The  Chairman  :  Gov.  Stanard  will  now  read  the  minority  report. 

Gov.  Stanard  then  read 


' 


THE    MINORITY   REPORT. 

Resolved,  That  we  favor  the  use  of  silver  in  the  coinage  of  this  country  to  the 
fullest  extent  consistent  with  the  maintenance  of  our  present  standard,  and 
that  we  cordially  approve  the  efforts  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  to 
secure  the  co-operation  of  other  nations  in  a  more  extended  use  of  silver  in 
international  commerce  upon  such  ratio  of  value  with  gold  as  may  be  found 
expedent  and  effective  and  susceptible  of  being  definitely  maintained ;  but  we 
deprecate  the  agitation  for  the  free  coinage  of  silver  by  this  country  as  a 
menace  to  the  soundness  of  our  currency  and  injurious  to  the  public  welfare. 

Gov.  Stanard  :  Without  reading  the  names  of  the  gentlemen  of  the 
minority  report,  I  will  state  that  they  represent  in  part  the  States  of 
Missouri,  Iowa,  Texas,  Nebraska,  Washington  and  Minnesota.  Mr. 
Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention:  It  is  not  possible  for  me 
to  occupy  more  than  seven  or  eight  minutes  of  the  twenty-five  which 
has  been  allotted  to  us  for  the  discussion  of  this  question.  It  does  not 
seem  to  me  necessary  that  we  should  discuss  it  to  any  great  extent  at 
an  hour  so  late.  We  believe  that  the  resolution  sufficiently  explains 
itself  for  the  convention  to  fully  understand  and  comprehend  what  the 
minority  are  desirous  of  conveying  to  the  convention  and  to  the  country. 
We  believe  further  that  this  subject  of  free  coinage,  or  of  a  sound 
financial  basis,  has  been  sufficiently  discussed,  almost  even  before  this 
convention  convened,  and  if  there  was  any  doubt  upon  the  matter,  there 


182  Report  of  Proceedings 

has  been  enough  light  thrown  upon  the  subject  from  this  platform  at 
least  to  have  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  understand  it,  and  perhaps  the 
regions  round  about.  I  have  not  been  occupying. a  very  enviable  posi- 
tion before  the  Committee  on  Coinage.  I  have  been  one  of  a  minority 
from  the  beginning,  and  now,  gentlemen,  I  think  I  should  have  your 
sympathy  and  that  I  should  be  successful  at  last  in  the  attempt  which  I 
intend  to  make  before  this  convention.  I  did  not  think  that  my  St. 
Louis  friends  had  any  designs  on  me,  but  I  have  been  on  the  minority 
in  about  everything. 

Mr.  Chairman.:  The  thought  has  come  to  my  mind  since  I  have  been 
in  this  convention,  from  conversations  which  I  have  had,  from  speeches 
which  have  been  delivered,  and  from  resolutions  which  have  been  pre- 
sented, that  there  were  many  people  in  this  country  who  thought  we 
were  about  finished  up,  that  we  should  legislate  for  the  people  now  here 
inhabiting  this  country,  without  thinking  of  the  oncoming  tide  of  immi- 
gration that  is  sure  to  inhabit  this  country  in  the  next  half  century. 
You  know  of  my  sympathies,  and  much  more  of  my  association  — 
because  I  have  been  West  of  the  Mississippi  river  all  of  my  life-time, 
and  I  know  all  the  hardships  and  all  the  privations  of  the  people  who 
came  to  this  western  country,  this  trans-Mississippi  country,  and  have 
made  it  blossom  as  the  rose.  I  have  been  the  observer  of  the  things 
that  I  believe  to  some  extent  have  made  this  country  great  and  prosper- 
ous, this  western  country,  this  country  that  has  more  than  two-thirds 
of  the  area  of  the  United  States.  I  know  of  the  hard  fields  of  labor 
that  the  western  people  have  been  in.  I  know  of  their  faithfulness  and 
their  perseverance  and  endurance  in  the  hardships  in  the  days  that  have 
gone  by,  and  my  deliberate  judgment  is  to-day  that  there  is  no  country 
on  the  face  of  the  earth,  in  the  United  States  or  anywhere,  that  has  to- 
day a  greater  measure  of  prosperity  in  all  that  it  takes  to  make  a  great 
and  prosperous  and  a  happy  and  an  educated  people,  than  in  this 
country  west  of  the  Mississippi  river.  And  as  to  the  future,  let  me 
say,  that  our  population  is  doubled  about  every  30  to  33  years  since  we 
had  8,000,000  people  in  the  United  States.  The  population  has  doubled 
as  accurately  upon  the  large  figures  as  upon  the  small,  as  in  1860  we 
had  a  little  over  30,000,000  people  and  in  1890  about  63,000,000  peo- 
ple. We  may  not  double  as  accurately  in  the  future  every  30  years  as 
we  have  in  the  last  30,  but  if  we  should  we  will  have  122,000,000 
people  in  the  United  States  in  1920;  and  the  extra  lot  of  immigrants, 
this  new  population,  is  going  to  settle  west  of  the  Mississippi  river, 
because  it  is  the  best  place  for  them  to  live,  because  there  are  the 
best  conditions.  I  look  for  a  great  improvement  in  this  western 
country ;  in  the  southwest  where  the  State  of  Texas  can  take  good  care 
of  15,000,000  or  20,000,000  people  — and  they  are  beginning  to  find 
that  there  is  such  a  State,  the  State  of  Washington   on   the   extreme 


Tra7is- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  183 

northwest,  where  the  possibilities  can  hardly  be  estimated  ;  and  the  same 
with  the  States  that  are  west  of  us. 

Now,  the  point  that  I  want  to  make  is  this  —  that  the  prosperity  that 
has  come  to  the  western  country  has  not  only  come  through  the  energy 
and  intelligence  and  push  and  progress  of  the  West,  but  it  has  come 
through  the  intelligence  of  the  money  of  the  East  that  has  gone  to  help 
develop  the  resources  of  the  West.  And  it  is  the  money  of  the  East,  or 
the  money  of  the  western  centers,  or  the  money,  no  matter  where  it 
shall  come  from,  that  you  will  need  in  the  next  quarter  of  a  century  in 
the  development  of  the  great  enterprises  of  the  western  country,  and  I 
undertake  to  say  that  the  policy  is  a  bad  one  that  will  in  any  way  inter- 
fere with  the  credit  of  this  western  country,  that  will  in  any  way  cast 
a  doubt  upon  the  kind  of  money  that  we  expect  to  pay  our  debts  in. 

I  have  found  in  my  business  career  that  credit  was  an  exceedingly 
tender  thing  and  that  an  individual,  as  well  as  a  country  or  nation, 
should  be  exceedingly  careful  with  his  credit,  because  it  takes  money 
as  well  as  brains  to  develop  a  country  and  to  bring  the  best  results  to 
our  civilization.  It  needs  both.  My  judgment  is  that  while  the  recom- 
mendations of  this  convention  may  not  be  as  powerful  and  as  potential 
as  some  of  us  may  think,  it  is  bad  policy  to  recommend  to  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  a  policy  that  will  bring  about  in  any  way  a  depre- 
ciated currency  or  any  doubt  as  to  what  we  were  to  pay  our  debts  in. 

It  is  estimated  that  Europe  holds  about  $6,000,000,000  of  the  in- 
debtedness of  the  United  States,  including  railroad  indebtedness,  State 
and  National,  corporation  and  other  general  securities  of  the  United 
States.  Now,  it  is  an  advantage  to  us  to  get  cheap  money  of  all  the 
earth.  Money  is  worth  only  about  one  per  cent  to-day  in  the  Bank  of 
England  —  one  per  cent  per  annum  —  and  it  can  be  borrowed  in  New 
York,  I  am  told,  for  two  or  three  per  cent.  Now,  I  will  tell  you  that 
it  is  bad  policy,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  to  do  anything  to  damage  our 
credit  and  to  keep  us  from  getting  the  money  of  the  world  to  transact 
our  business  and  develop  our  enterprises  at  the  cheapest  possible  rate. 
What  we  need  is  money  in  this  western  country.  We  think  we  have 
got  brains  enough,  and  that  we  have  got  energy  and  vim  enough. 
It  is  what  I  have  been  wanting  all  my  life,  that  same  money  to  do 
business  with,  and  get  it  as  cheap  as  I  could,  and  we  don't  want  to  do 
anything  to  hurt  our  credit.  Any  city  that  has  a  bonded  issue  out 
does  not  care  whether  the  bonds  are  taken  in  their  town  or  taken  in 
New  York,  or  taken  in  London,  for  that  matter.  We  want  to  utilize 
everything  in  the  United  States,  all  the  resources,  not  only  of  our  own 
country,  but  of  foreign  countries. 

Now,  I  have  but  one  more  remark  to  make,  because  I  know  that 
my  time  is  rapidly  going,  and  that  is,  in  case  we  adopt  a  policy  in  the 
United  States  of   the  free  coinage  of  silver  at  the   ratio   of  16  to  1, 


184  Report  of  Proceedings 

knowing  that  silver  is  only  worth  about  50  cents  on  the  dollar  in  the 
markets  of  the  world,  the  indebtedness,  of  the  United  States  held  in 
foreign  countries  will  be  sent  here  for  our  gold.  They'll  not  wait  for 
the  chance  of  getting  a  good  gold  dollar  after  there  is  a  probability  of 
free  coinage  of  silver,  and,  in  my  judgment,  you  gentlemen  who  have 
got  money  would  act  exactly  in  the  same  way.  If  you  have  more  than 
$10.00  or  $100.00  loaned  out,  you  would  want  to  get  your  money  very 
quickly,  and  if  you  had  your  money  in  bank  you  would  want  to  be 
sure  to  get  it  out.  In  my  judgment,  the  adoption  of  the  policy  which 
is  outlined  by  the  majority  of  this  committee  would  make  such  a  panic 
in  this  country  as  we  have  never  seen  before,  to  which  the  panic  of 
1893  would  be  as  but  a  gentle  zephyr  before  a  cyclone. 

Mr.  Chairman,  my  time  is  up,  and  I  am  sorry  I  have  taken  up  so 
much  of  your  time,  because  I  want  some  other  gentleman  to  speak 
upon  this  subject.  I  am  exceedingly  thankful  for  the  very  courteous 
attention  that  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  has  given  to  me,  and  for 
the  attention  which  the  convention  has  shown  me. 

Mr.  Bryan:  I  yield  five  minutes  to  Mr.  Johnson  of  Colorado. 

Hon.  J.  L.  Johnson  (of  Colorado):  Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen 
of  the  Convention:  The  only  reason  that  I  have  to  come  before  you 
is  simply  to  call  attention  to  what  we  are  fighting  for.  Heretofore, 
we  have  been  led  to  believe  by  the  other  side  that  they  were  in  favor 
of  silver,  either  by  international  agreement  or  otherwise.  But  the 
minority  resolution  discloses  the  purpose  of  the  other  side.  Permit 
me  to  read  just  a  few  words :  "  We  are  in  favor  of  the  use  of  silver  in 
the  coinage  of  this  country  to  the  fullest  extent  consistent  with  the 
maintenance  of  our  present  standard."  Let  me  ask  you  what  the 
present  standard  is  —  the  gold  standard.  "  We  are  in  favor  of  silver, 
so  that  it  does  not  interfere  with  the  gold  standard."  That  is  all. 
Bimetallists  of  this  convention  —  those  who  believe  in  silver,  whether 
it  is  by  the  coinage  of  the  United  States  alone  or  otherwise,  will  vote 
for  the  majority  report.  Those  who  believe  in  the  gold  standard  will 
vote  the  other  side  —  that  is  all  there  is  to  it. 

Then,  "  but  we  deprecate  the  agitation  for  the  free  coinage  of  silver 
by  this  country,  as  a  menace  to  the  soundness  of  our  currency,  and  in- 
jurious to  the  public  welfare."  That  is,  they  are  in  favor  of  silver 
that  does  not  interfere  with  the  gold  standard  and  any  other  discussion 
of  the  silver  question  must  not  occur.  That  is  the  true  interpretation 
of  this  resolution.  Finally  we  come  to  the  point  when  the  question  is : 
Are  we  in  this  country  to  have  forever  the  gold  standard,  or  are  we 
to  have  anything  else  but  the  gold  standard  ? 

Just  one  other  thought  that  was  brought  out  by  the  gentleman  who 
has  just  left  the  floor.  He  states  that  the  development  of  the  West 
depends  upon  eastern  money ;  —  does  it?     Are  we  willing  to  pay  usury 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  185 

and  interest  upon  the  development  of  western  enterprises?  The 
money  that  is  produced  in  the  West,  unless  it  goes  East  to  pay  interest, 
remains  there,  but  money  that  is  borrowed  in  the  East  must  return  to 
the  East.  It  is  better  for  the  West  to  produce  its  own  money  than  to 
borrow  it  and  pay  interest  on  it.  And  what  is  true  in  reference  to  the 
East  is  true  as  to  the  whole  country  of  the  United  States.  When  it 
comes  to  borrowing  money  of  Great  Britain,  or  anywhere  else,  money 
that  is  made  and  developed  in  the  United  States  remains  here,  unless  it 
goes  abroad  to  pay  interest,  or  balance  of  trade.  Money  that  is  pro- 
duced here  in  this  country  remains  here.  The  American  people  have 
the  ability  to  make  their  own  money  and  keep  it  if  they  will. 

Me.  Bryan:  I  yield  four  minutes  to  Judge  Goodwin. 

Judge  Goodwin:  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I  heard  my  little  son 
reading  an  account  of  the  contest  between  Mr.  Corbett  and  Mr.  Sulli- 
van, and  the  burden  of  it  was  that  all  Corbett  tried  to  do  was  to  evade 
Sullivan  and  jab  him.  Now  a  man  who  has  but  four  minutes  to  talk 
on  the  silver  question  can  do  nothing  but  jab  somebody,  and  I  want  to 
begin  by  jabbing  your  honored  Governor  (laughter).  He  is  a  lively 
gentleman.  I  do  not  believe  he  ever  had  a  vindictive  thought,  but  he 
is  all  off  on  this  question  and  he  needs  some  missionary  work.  He 
told  you  how  cheap  money  was  in  New  York.  I  guess  it  is  (laugh- 
ter). I  think  in  New  York  you  could  borrow  $15.00  on  a  $20.00 
gold  piece  at  probably  2  per  cent  a  year,  but  nothing  else  (laughter). 
There  is  no  property  in  the  country  that  you  can  borrow  that  money 
on.  And  why?  Because  the  money  of  the  country  is  worth  so  much 
more  than  property  that  no  man  desires  to  loan  money  or  purchase 
property.  He  wants  city  bonds,  electric  light  stocks  or  something  else. 
The  Governor  began  his  remarks  by  telling  you  how  much  sympathy  he 
had  for  the  West.  That  is  all  right  —  only  the  West  does  not  ask  for 
sympathy.  The  West  is  doing  missionary  work  for  these  barbarians  in 
the  East.  |  If  the  City  Council  of  St.  Louis  should  pass  an  ordinance 
to-night  that  no  lady  or  gentleman  in  St.  Louis  should  eat  wheaten 
flour,  and  have  the  power  to  enforce  it,  and  wheat  should  fall  to-morrow 
four  cents  and  corn  advance  five  cents,  I  do  not  believe  the  Governor 
would  get  up  and  tell  you  that  wheat  had  fallen  in  its  intrinsic  value, 
that  we  must  all  eat  corn,  especially  if  there  was  not  more  than  half 
corn  enough  to  give  you,     He  tells  us  what  a  panic  would  come. 

Now,  I  believe  that  every  one,  except  the  Governor,  who  has  talked 
on  the  other  side,  has  either  designated  silver  men  as  irrepressible  cranks 
or  out-and-out  thieves.  I  wish  to  say,  that  all  promises  that  the  gold 
men  have  made  show  they  are  all  liars,  and  I  can  prove  it  (laughter). 
Mr.  Cleveland  several  years  ago  wrote  to  Mr.  Carlisle,  that  if  the  Bland 
law  was  not  repealed,  the  country  would  go  to  the  everlasting  bow-wows. 
It  did  not  go.    That  was  not  a  falsehood  o*h  Cleveland's  part,  but  he  had 


186  Report  of  Proceedings 

not  studied  the  question  more  than  two  hours  and  a  half,  under  the 
tutelage  of  some  gentleman  who  had  an  interest  in  a  National  bank. 
The  trouble  with  him  was  he  never  studied  it.  He  made  up  his  mind  and 
that  was  the  end  of  it  (laughter).  A  year  ago  last  July,  when  the  extra 
session  was  called,  the  whole  New  York  press,  with  one  exception, 
assured  us  that  to  repeal  the  purchasing  clause  of  the  Sherman  law,  all 
trouble  would  pass  away  and  prosperity  be  restored.  That  was  dis- 
counted before  they  got  through  with  the  repealing.  Then  the  tariff 
must  be  fixed  —  that  will  make  everything  lovely.  Now,  you  talk  tariff 
and  anti-tariff.  There  has  not  been  an  election  of  late  years  that  has 
indicated  any  principle  on  earth.  They  have  simply  given  expression 
to  the  unrest  in  the  people's  hearts  because  of  their  troubles.  I  have 
talked  with  cattle  men  since  I  have  been  here.  They  have  assured  me 
they  have  not  made  a  cent  in  12  years.  You  go  out  in  Missouri  and 
you  will  find  the  land  has  fallen  50  per  cent  in  value.  Go  into  any 
other  State  of  the  north  and  you  will  find  land  and  all  that  has  grown 
out  of  the  land  has  fallen  50  per  cent,  because  money  is  worth  so  much 
more  than  property,  that  property  is  of  no  account,  and  by  no  work 
that  you  can  do  can  you  get  profits  to  the  producer.  If  you  don't 
change  your  minds,  those  of  you  who  live  in  the  East,  and  do  the  right 
thing  by  silver,  we  will  come  here  again  and  again  and  have  no  limit  on 
time  and  will  talk  you  to  death.     That  seems  to  be  the  only  way. 

Gov.  Stanard  :•  I  yield  three  minutes  of  my  time  to  Mr.  Hancock  of 
Texas. 

Lewis  Hancock  (of  Texas) :  Mr.  President,  Gentlemen  of  the  Con- 
vention :  The  resolution  presented  by  the  minority  of  your  Committee 
on  Resolutions  does  not  call  for  a  general  discussion  of  all  the  phases 
of  the  silver  question.  However  we  may  differ  as  to  the  wisdom  and 
folly  of  the  legislation  which  in  1873  in  this  country,  and  about  the 
same  time  in  Europe,  placed  restrictions  about  the  coinage  of  silver, 
however  we  may  differ  as  to  the  effects  of  those  restrictions  upon  prices 
and  upon  prosperity,  there  are  no  living  issues  among  the  people  of  this 
country  on  those  questions  to-day.  But  there  is  a  live  issue  between 
the  people  of  this  country  on  a  decidedly  different  question  and  that  is 
the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  this  country  can  alone,  independently 
of  other  commercial  nations,  undertake  the  free  coinage  of  silver  at  a 
ratio  of  16  to  1.  That  is  a  totally  different  question.  It  is  not  a 
question  of  standards ;  it  is  not  a  question  of  metals ;  it  is  not  a  ques- 
tion of  interest.  It  is  a  question  of  safety.  The  resolution  presented 
by  the  majority  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  sets  forth  in  clear, 
distinct  words,  the  fact  that  this  Government  can  undertake  the  coinage 
of  silver  with  safety.  The  report  submitted  by  the  minority  of  that 
committee  undertakes  to  set  forth  just  as  clearly  the  fact  that  this 
country  cannot  do  it.     The*  issue  is  intended  to  be  made  clear  and 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  187 

distinct,  so  that  the  people  of  this  country  can  begin  to  learn  what  they 
are  discussing. 

What  is  the  great  condition  to-day  ?  Whether  we  like  it  or  not,  silver 
is  a  commodity  selling  in  the  markets  of  the  world,  and  all  the  free 
silver  countries  have  not  been  able  to  help  us  and  cannot  help  us. 
Silver  sells  as  a  commodity  at  about  63  cents  an  ounce,  at  which  rate 
our  bullion  is  worth  about  50  cents.  I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  man 
upon  this  floor  who  will  not  assent  at  once  and  without  discussion  to  the 
proposition  that  if  this  country  adopts  the  policy  of  the  free  coinage  of 
silver  independently  of  other  commercial  nations,  that  if  silver  remains 
at  60  cents  an  ounce  or  at  any  figure  under  $1.29  an  ounce,  that  we 
thereupon  pass  from  a  gold  standard  to  a  silver  standard. 

Mr.  Bryan:  I  yield  four  minutes  to  Gen.  Weaver. 

Hon.  James  B.  Weaver  (of  Iowa) :  Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gen- 
tlemen of  the  Convention :  Mr.  Leighton  last  night  during  his  address 
asked  the  question,  "  Do  we  need  any  more  money?  "  I  am  in  favor 
of  the  majority  report,  because  I  believe  the  country  does  need  in  its 
business,  a  greater  volume  of  currency  than  it  now  has.  He  made  the 
assertion  that  during  the  sixties  we  had  $18.00  per  capita,  that  we  now 
have  about  $25.00  per  capita.  I  was  astounded  to  hear  a  gentleman  of 
th^  apparent  information  of  Mr.  Leighton  make  such  a  declaration  as 
that.  Now,  does  anybody  believe  that  we  are  within  the  period  of  in- 
flation and  that  the  war  period  was,  compared  with  this  one,  a  period  of 
contraction  and  contracted  currency  ?  If  this  is  the  case  what  did  the 
Secretary  mean  —  and  I  have  his  report  here  of  1865  —  the  first  report 
made  after  the  close  of  the  war  —  when  he  said  there  was  so  much 
currency  in  the  country  that  it  was  demoralizing  the  labor  interests  of 
the  country  and  the  remedy  was  in  contraction  of  the  volume  of  the 
currency.  If  the  gentleman  was  correct,  and  we  had  only  $18.00  per 
capita  at  that  time,  and  that  volume  existed,  of  necessity  any  contrac- 
tion of  the  currency  is  greater  to-day  than  it  was  at  the  close  of  the 
war.     Perhaps  that  is  the  matter  with  the  currency. 

I  have  the  reports  of  Secretaries  Fessenden  and  McCullough,  and  I 
want  to  call  attention  to  a  remark  always  overlooked  by  the  gold- 
standard  men  in  discussing  the  money  question.  It  is  this :  that  what- 
ever volume  of  money  we  had  in  the  United  States  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  it  was  confined  in  its  circulation  to  the  people  of  the  Northern 
States,  and  we  only  had  25,000,000  in  the  Northern  States,  and  when 
the  war  closed  a  little  less  than  that,  and  whatever  volume  of  money 
we  had  was  confined  in  its  circulation  to  that  number  of  people.  I 
have  also  the  report  of  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency  at  that  time, 
the  brightest  and  ablest  man  that  has  ever  filled  that  chair  since  the 
sixties,  Mr.  John  Jay  Knox.  Mr.  Knox  says  in  a  speech  before  the 
convention  of  the  National  Bankers'  Association,  that  we  had   over 


188  Report  of  Proceedings 

$1,500,000,000  of  legal  tender  money  in  circulation  in  the  Northern- 
States  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  we  had  over  $1,700,000,000  of  cur- 
rency  in  circulation  at  that  time,  every  dollar  of  ih  in  circulation 
among  the  Northern  people.  When  Lee  and  Johnston  surrendered  they 
added  in  a  single  day  10,000,000  of  penniless  people  to  Uncle  Sam's 
money-using  population,  which  was  an  addition  of  40  per  cent  to  our 
money-using  population  in  a  single  day.  Was  not  that  equal  to  a 
contraction  of  40  per  cent  of  the  money  in  circulation  in  the  North ■' 
when  the  war  closed?  Was  not  that  a  tremendous  contraction  for 
a  single  day,  and  did  not  that  increase  the  demand  for  money  40  per 
cent?  Let  me  give  you  a  rule  in  political  economy  as  invariable  as  the 
motion  of  the  earth  —  the  demand  for  money  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the 
demand  for  all  other  things,  and  when  10,000,000  of  penniless  people 
were  added  to  our  money-using  population  in  a  single  day,  that  increased 
the  demand  for  money  40  per  cent  in  this  country.  But  in  addition  to 
that  contraction  by  the  addition  of  that  penniless  body  of  people  from 
the  South,  Congress  adopted  the  recommendation  of  Secretary  Mc- 
Cullough  and  at  once  entered  upon  the  contraction  of  our  volume  of 
money.  The  bonded  debt  was  only  $1,066,000,000,  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  but  June  30th,  1869,  it  jumped  to  $2,056,000,000,  a  contraction 
of  $1,000,000,000  of  money  in  three  years;  70,000,000  of  people  are 
using  the  money  to-day;  that  is  an  addition  of  170  per  cent  to  our 
money-using  population ;  25,000,000  were  using  the  money  at  the 
close  of  the  war  and  there  are  70,000,000  using  it  now,  and  that  is  170' 
per  cent  increase  in  our  money-using  population.  Nobody  claims  we 
have  over  $116,000,000  in  circulation  now,  whereas  there  were  over 
$118,000,00(3  in  the  hands  of  the  people  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

Gov.  Stanard  :  I  yield  three  minutes  of  my  time  to  Mr.  Black  of 
Washington. 

Mr.  Black  :  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  I  have  not  time 
to  make  an  argument  —  to  explain  why  the  people  of  Western  Wash- 
ington are  opposed  to  the  free  coinage  of  silver  at  16  to  1.  I  can  but 
briefly  state  three  reasons.  1st.  Because  in  that  country  we  do  not 
believe  that  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  at  16  to  1  is 
honest.  We  believe  that  such  a  coinage  is  repudiation.  I  will  illus- 
trate ;  I  see  my  friend  Gov.  Prince  —  if  I  could  go  to  him  and  borrow 
$500.00  to-day  and  take  that  $500.00  and  buy  $500.00  worth  of 
silver  bullion,  and  the  day  after  the  act  is  passed  making  silver  a 
legal  tender  at  16  to  II  take  that  bullion  bought  with  his  money  to 
the  mint  and  I  get  1,000  legal  tender  silver  dollars  for  it.  I  take 
to  brother  Prince  $500.00  of  it  to  pay  him  back,  and  keep  $500.00 
of  it  myself.  I  say  that  is  not  honest,  that  is  repudiation.  I  say 
that,  as  well  as  not  being  honest  it  is  not  fair.  2d.  Is  it  fair, 
that  because  a  man  in  Colorado  has  a  silver  mine,  that  by  operation 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  189' 

of  law  his  silver  mine  should  be  doubled  in  value,  when  Brother 
Rowe  living  in  Utah  has  a  grain  field  and  raises  wheat?  It  is  not  fair 
that  one  citizen  of  Utah  has  his  property  doubled  in  value  while  the 
other  has  not.  It  is  class  legislation.  I  say  further  than  that,  and  as 
a  third  reason  why  we  are  opposed  to  this  proposition,  that  it  is  not  a 
legitimate  money.  Take  a  silver  dollar  as  it  is  to-day  and  ask  any  man 
in  this  audience  what  makes  it  worth  a  dollar,  and  he  will  tell  you  it  is 
the  fiat  of  the  Government :  it  is  the  stamp  of  the  Government.  If 
that  be  true,  then  I  say  it  is  time  this  Government  joins  with  Gov. 
Weaver,  making  a  stamped  dollar  of  paper  instead  of  spending  50  cents 
on  the  dollar  for  silver  for  it. 

Gov.  Stanard  :  I  yield  three  minutes  to  Col.  Leighton  of  St.  Louis. 

Col.  Leighton:  I  feel,  gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  as  though  I 
have  said  enough,  and  that  you  would  rather  listen  to  somebody  else, 
but  I  yield  to  the  request  of  Gov.  Stanard  to  say  a  single  word.  I 
have  given  expression  to  my  own  idea,  and  which  is  the  idea  —  excuse 
me  for  saying  it — of  the  more  intelligent  people  of  the  United  States, 
that  the  coinage  of  silver  on  the  basis  of  16  to  1  means  monometallism 
of  all  silver,  and  not  bimetallism  at  all. 

A  Delegate  (from  Kansas)  :  I  move  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  gentleman. 

Col.  Leighton:  That  seems  to  receive  a  response,  from  which  I 
infer  that  it  is  the  intelligent  conviction  of  the  majority  of  the  silver 
States.  It  is  simply  a  policy  intended  to  put  this  country  upon  a  silver 
basis,  to  have  monometallism  of  silver,  instead  of  bimetallism,  which 
you  undertake  to  claim  before  the  public.  If  that  is  so,  in  my  judg- 
ment, it  is  a  large  step  toward  carrying  out  the  policy  foreshadowed  in 
the  majority  resolution.  The  minority  of  the  committee  were  compli- 
mented on  expressing  fairly  and  fully  what  they  meant  in  the  minority 
report.  Let  me  compliment  the  majority  in  expressing  what  they  mean 
when  they  expressed  their  declaration  of  war  against  the  banks  of  the 
country.  Now,  I  undertake  to  say,  gentlemen,  that  that  policy  turns 
back  all  the  wheels  of  civilization.  A  bank  properly  organized,  prop- 
erly regulated,  properly  examined  and  surrounded  with  all  the  safe- 
guards which  legislation  can  give  to  it,  is  as  great  an  instrument  of 
civilization  and  as  great  an  instrument  in  carrying  on  the  commerce  of 
the  country  as  a  railroad,  a  post-office  or  a  telegraph. 

Mr.  Bryan:  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  I  have  saved  about 
seven  minutes  to  end  this  discussion.  I  am  sorry  that  I  have  not  more 
time.  Last  night  I  did  not  have  quite  as  much  time  as  I  wanted.  The 
ratio  was  about  5  to  1.  But  when  it  gets  to  16  to  1  we  don't  complain 
(laughter).  Now  these  resolutions  fairly  express  the  contest  and  I 
think  that,  even  though  Solomon  may  not  have  been  as  intelligent  as 
some  others  are  who  assume  to  be  more  intelligent  than  we  are,  you  are 
all   intelligent   enough  to  know  what  the  issue   is  and  that  you  have 


190  Report  of  Proceedings 

courage  enough  to  express  yourselves  when  you  do  know.  The  resolu- 
tion reported  by  the  minority  is  a  resolution  in  favor  of  the  gold  stand- 
ard, in  favor  of  the  use  of  silver  so  far  as  it  can  be  done  consistently 
with  the  gold  standard.  That  is  the  construction  placed  upon  it  by  the 
gentleman  who  presented  it  to  you. 

Our  resolution  is  for  the  double  standard,  and  you  can  range  your- 
selves up  on  whichever  side  of  this  proposition  you  believe  in.  Let  me 
run  over  the  first  of  these  questions. 

They  say  we  are  repudiating.  Some  people  think  there  is  only  one 
method  of  repudiation ;  for  the  debtor  it  is  wrong,  but  if  the  creditor 
repudiates  and  demands  150  cents  from  him  when  he  owed  only  a  dollar, 
that  is  honesty  (applause).  Now,  the  gentleman  suggested  that  we 
needed  to  borrow  money.  Yes,  my  friends,  and  you  continue  the  in- 
famous policy  that  we  have  labored  under,  and  we  will  be  borrowers  of 
money  and  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  for  the  man  who 
makes  slaves  of  us  by  financial  legislation.  We  want  legislation  in  the 
interest  of  justice  that  will  let  people  get  out  of  debt  when  tbey  pay  as 
much  as  they  borrow,  and  not  seek  to  gather  in  more  than  they  are  en- 
titled to.  If  you  would  give  us  just  legislation,  we  would  not  be  deprived 
of  our  rights,  and  year  to  year  we  would  not  find  our  mortgages  increas- 
ing. Give  us  just  legislation  and  an  honest  dollar  and  the  people  of 
the  West,  with  their  magnificent  resources,  could  loan  money  to  the 
eastern  country,  that  is  not  as  rich  in  natural  resources.  Those  people 
would  not  even  coin  the  seigniorage,  the  money  in  the  treasury  lying 
idle,  and  yet  when  they  need  money  they  go  and  borrow  money  to  run 
the  Government,  and  tax  this  country.  Who  was  it  said  banking  was 
right?  It  is  right  in  the  proper  sphere,  but  I  denounce  a  banking  con- 
spiracy that  drives  money  out  of  the  treasury  to  get  bonds  issued 
because  they  want  to  run  their  Government  and  want  bonds  to  run  it 
with. 

My  friends,  these  men  who  talk  about  superior  intelligence  do  not 
apply  to  the  money  question  the  most  common  principles  of  practical 
life.  If  you  increase  the  demand,  my  friends,  isn't  it  the  same  thing 
as  decreasing  the  supply?  If  you  increase  the  demand  for  silver  \)y 
opening  the  mints  of  free  coinage,  does  not  that  increase  the  demand 
and  raise  the  price  of  the  metal  ?  We  increase  the  price  of  gold  by  in- 
creasing the  demand  for  it.  Why  is  it  that  these  men  who  so  dread 
that  you  will  pay  for  silver  more  than  it  will  cost  to  mine  it,  why  do 
not  they  complain  of  the  profits  that  go  into  the  pocket  of  the  gold 
miner  when  you  raise  the  price  by  legislation?  They  claim  they  don't 
want  to  discriminate.  We  don't.  When  we  ask  for  the  free  coinage 
of  silver,  we  only  ask  them  to  give  back  what  law  took  away.  You 
cannot  give  to  the  mine  owner  a  single  penny  more  than  you  took 
when  you  demonetized  silver.     I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  two 


Trans -Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  191 

or  three  prophecies.  They  say  that  gold  will  go  abroad  and  that 
bonds  will  come  back  from  Europe.  We  have  heard  the  same  old 
prophecies  from  the  same  source  every  time  we  try  to  legislate  for 
silver.  When  the  Bland  Act  was  passed  the  papers  said  our  credit 
was  destroyed,  that  greenbacks  would  go  below  par  and  gold  rise  to  a 
premium.  In  1878  we  accumulated  a  supply  of  gold  instead  of  letting 
it  go  abroad.  Under  the  Bland  Act  and  in  the  beginning  of  1878  our 
bonds  went  abroad,  and  yet  those  people  come  and  prophecy  again,  on 
the  theory  of  the  gambler  that  never  having  been  right,  they  must 
necessarily  be  right  now  (laughter  and  applause). 

Our  coinage  proposition  asks  for  the  unlimited  coinage  of  gold  and 
silver  at  16  to  1  without  any  other  nation  of  the  earth.  I  am  glad 
they  did  not  base  their  objection  on  international  bimetallism.  I  am 
glad  they  did  not  tell  you  they  expected  it,  because  they  did  not  ex. 
pectit.  I  want  to  ask  you  whether  this  great  nation,  the  greatest  on 
God's  footstool  to-day,  must  do  only  what  second-hand  countries  in 
Europe  do.  Did  Italy  ask  our  consent  to  take  gold  as  a  standard? 
Did  Germany  ask  our  consent  to  demonetize  silver?  Did  the  Latin 
Union  ask  our  consent  to  suspend  the  coinage  of  silver?  Did  India  ask 
our  consent  to  suspend  the  coinage  of  silver  and  reduce  the  value  of 
all  the  silver  we  had  on  hand  ?  Do  these  nations  ask  us  ?  Not  one  of 
them.  And  yet  men  tell  you  they  have  not  confidence  in  their  country, 
that  the  United  States  must  go  abroad  and  ask  some  other  nation  what 
we  shall  do  when  we  legislate  for  our  own  people.  It  was  more  than 
one  hundred  years  ago  when  our  ancestors  declared  their  political  in- 
dependence of  all  the  other  nations  on  earth,  and  I  believe  that  to-day  the 
people  of  this  country  are  ready  for  the  new  declaration  of  independ- 
ence. It  was  said  that  they  gathered  upon  the  streets  listening  for  the 
sound  of  the  bell  that  should  tell  them  the  declaration  had  been  signed. 
Oh,  my  friends,  70,000,000  of  people  to-day  are  listening  for  the  sound 
that  shall  tell  them  that  this  people  has  declared  its  financial  independ- 
ence of  every  other  nation  upon  the  earth.  We  do  not  have  to  tell  you 
something  that  has  no  danger  in  it.  We  do  not  have  to  guarantee  you 
against  possible  danger.  We  simply  have  to  propose  a  better  system 
than  the  system  that  has  crushed  us  for  twenty  years  and  which  they 
want  to  make  perpetual  now.  My  friends,  we  believe  that  if  you  open 
your  mints  to  both  gold  and  silver,  that  the  worst  possible  thing  that 
can  come  from  it  will  be  infinitely  better  than  the  best  thing  that  can 
come  to  us  waiting  as  we  are. 

We  ask  you  to  pass  this  resolution  and  let  the  Trans-Mississippi 
Congress  be  placed  on  record  as  in  favor  of  the  independence  of  this 
country  in  its  laws  by  coinage  at  16  to  1,  the  ratio  that  we  had  before  it 
was  stricken  down  as  we  believe  by  fraud,  at  least  in  the  night  (cheers). 

The  minorit}7  report  was  then  read  again. 


192  Report  of  Proceedings 

The  Chairman:  The  question  now  before  the  house  is  the  adoption 
of  the  substitute. 

The  Chairman  stated  that  each  State  would  vote  10  votes,  whether  it 
had  more  than  one  person  present  or  not,  but  that  above  10  votes  it 
must  have  a  man  present  on  the  floor  for  each  vote. 

A  delegate  from  Arkansas  moved  that  the  vote  on  the  minority  prop- 
osition be  accepted  as  the  vote  on  the  majority. 

The  vote  was  then  taken  on  the  question  of  the  substitution  of  the 
minority  report  for  the  majority  report  on  the  coinage  question,  and 
the  substitute  was  lost  by  the  following  vote: — 

AYE.  NO. 

Arizona 10 

Arkansas 3  12 

California 27 

Colorado 19 

Idaho 10 

Iowa 10  6 

Indian  Territory 2  8 

Kansas 14 

Louisiana 

Minnesota 10 

Missouri 21  9 

Montana 10 

Nevada ... 

Nebraska 5J  4J 

New  Mexico 10 

North  Dakota 10 

Oklahoma 10 

Oregon 10 

South  Dakota 

Texas 8  2 

Utah 30 

Washington 8  2 

Wyoming 10 

Alaska 10 

77J         2 13 i 

A  division  was  called  for  between  the  coinage  question  and  the 
currency  question. 

Mr.  Bryan  :  I  think  it  is  a  matter  of  right,  that  if  they  ask  for  a 
division  on  these  propositions  they  are  entitled  to  it. 

Mr.  Smith  (of  Iowa):  The  report  of  the  Committee,  settled  fully 
and  fairly  and  finally  the  question  of  the  division.  Division  of  the 
question  would  be  revision  of  the  resolution,  and  it  cannot  be  done. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  193 

The  Chairman:  The  chair  rules  that  the  rejection  of  the  substitute 
does  not  affect  the  majority  report.     It  can  be  divided  if  asked  for. 

A  vote  was  called  for  upon  the  question  of  a  division. 

Gov.  Prince  :  Mr.  President,  as  a  matter  of  parliamentary  law,  a 
division  is  the  right  of  every  individual  to  call  for.  It  does  not  require 
a  majority  or  a  vote,  but  a  simple  call  by  any  individual.  That  is  as 
well  settled  as  that  the  sun  rises  in  the  East. 

The  majority  report  was  then  reread. 

A  Delegate:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  call  for  a  division  on  the  currency 
question  and  then  a  vote  on  the  others. 

First  clause  of  the  majority  report  was  then  adopted  by  viva  voce 
vote. 

The  roll  was  then  called  by  States  upon  the  adoption  of  the  second 
clause  of  the  majority  report  and  it  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  206J 
■•••Aye"  and  75J  "No." 

The  vote  on  the  adoption  of  the  second  clause  of  the  majority  report 
was  as  follows:  — 

AYE.  NO. 

Arizona 10  ... 

Arkansas 14  2 

California 17 

Colorado 19 

Idaho 9  1 

Iowa 6  10 

Indian  Ter 10        v      ... 

Kansas 14 

Louisiana 

Minnesota 10 

Missouri 9  21 

Montana 10 

Nevada 

Nebraska 4£  5£ 

New  Mexico 10 

North  Dakota 10 

Oklahoma 10 

Oregon 10 

South  Dakota 

Texas 2  8 

Utah 30 

Washington 2  8 

Wyoming 10 

Alaska 10 

206£  75J 


194  Report  of  Proceedings 

A  motion  was  made  that  the  Executive  Committee  be  requested  to 
arrange  for  a  meeting  for  the  purpose  of  hearing  an  address  from  Hon. 
Wm.  J.  Bryan  in  answer  to  Col.  Leighton,  and  the  Chairman  of  the 
Executive  Committee  stated  that  it  was  not  within  the  power  of  the 
Executive  Committee  to  hold  such  a  meeting. 

Mr.  Black  made  the  point  of  order  that  this  Congress  had  no  power 
to  call  a  special  meeting. 

The  point  of  order  was  sustained. 

The  Chairman:  The  Executive  Committee  is  ready  to  make  its 
report. 

Mr.  Whitmore  :  Mr.  President  and  Members  of  the  Congress :  At 
your  last  session  in  San  Francisco  the  Executive  Committee  was  ordered 
to  make  a  report  in  regard  to  some  plan  for  permanent  organization  of 
the  Congress.  In  accordance  with  instructions  given  by  you  to  report 
this  morning,  that  Committee  has  been  ready  to  report  for  some  hours 
past.  It  has  a  very  important  report,  and  it  is  therefore  hoped  that 
every  delegate  will  remain  to  hear  it.  At  the  San  Francisco  meeting, 
at  the  suggestion  of  Gov.  McConnell,  a  motion  was  introduced  to 
appoint  a  special  committee  to  devise  some  plan  of  permanent  organiza- 
tion and  of  raising  funds  by  which  the  Congress  would  have  money 
to  pay  its  own  expenses,  and  also  to  see  that  its  resolutions  were  prop- 
erly presented  in  Washington.  That  Committee  reported  unfavorably. 
It  was  recommitted  to  the  same  Committee,  with  instructions  to  go  over 
the  matter  again.  They  found  so  many  obstacles  in  their  way  that  the 
time  was  not  long  enough  in  which  to  remove  them.  The  resolutions 
were  then  referred  to  the  Executive  Committee,  with  positive  instruc- 
tions to  submit  a  report  at  this  session  of  the  Congress.  This  Commit- 
tee is  composed  of  two  members  from  each  State  and  Territory  west 
of  the  Mississippi  river.  A  great  deal  of  correspondence  has  taken 
place  between  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  and  different  members,  in 
order  to  ascertain  their  views  in  regard  to  this  matter,  and  the  report 
now  about  to  be  submitted  is  signed  by  every  member  of  the  Executive 
Committee  who  is  here,  and  I  think  coincides  with  the  opinion  of  the 
other  members  who  have  been  heard  from  through  correspondence. 
The  following  is  the  plan  proposed  for  the  permanent  organization  of 
the  Congress. — 

1st.  The  Congress  shall  meet  at  such  time  as  shall  be  fixed  by  the  Executive 
Committee,  not  less  frequently  than  once  each  year,  and  at  such  place  as  shall 
be  designated  by  the  previous  Congress. 

2nd.  The  permanent  officers  of  this  Congress  shall  consist  of  a  President;  a 
Vice-President  to  be  named  by  each  State  and  Territory ;  a  Secretary ;  a  Treas- 
urer who  shall  be  elected  by  the  Executive  Committee,  and  such  assistants  to 
the  Secretary  as  the  Executive  Committee  shall  deem  necessary ;  an  Executive 
Committee  consisting  of  two  members  who  shall  be  selected  by  the  delegations 
of  their  respective  States  and  Territories,  one  of  whom  shall  be  elected  at  each 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  195 

session  for  a  term  of  two  years,  except  at  the  present  meeting,  at  which  time 
two  shall  be  elected,  one  of  whom  shall  serve  for  one  year  and  one  for  two 
years. 

The  President  shall  be  ex-officio  member  of  the  Executive  Committee. 

3d.  The  election  of  officers  shall  take  place  at  eleven  a.  m.  of  the  second  day 
of  the  session,  previous  to  which  time  the  Committee  on  Permanent  Organization 
shall  make  its  report. 

4th.  The  Executive  Committee  shall  select  its  own  chairman,  who  shall  be  its 
executive  officer,  and  who  shall  have  charge  of  the  interests  of  the  Congress 
between  its  sessions,  arrange  all  preliminaries  for  its  meetings,  and  take  such 
steps  as  the  committee  may  deem  proper  to  bring  its  action  to  the  attention  of 
the  United  States  Congress  and  urge  the  adoption  of  the  measures  which  this 
Congress  may  approve.  ^ 

The  funds  of  the  Congress  may  be  used  to  defray  the  necessary  expenses  thus 
incurred,  provided,  however,  that  in  no  case  shall  such  expenses  be  incurred 
unless  the  funds  are  in  hand  to  meet  them. 

5th.  In  order  to  provide  for  such  expenses,  the  annual  dues  for  membership 
shall  be  as  follows:  from  every  business  organization  the  sum  of  ten  dollars, 
which  shall  entitle  it  to  one  delegate,  and  five  dollars  for  each  additional  dele- 
gate. Any  delegate  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  any  State  or  Territory,  the 
Mayor  of  any  city,  or  the  Executive  officer  or  officers  of  any  county,  shall  pay 
five  dollars. 

Should  the  amount  thus  contributed  prove  to  be  more  than  is  needed  to 
defray  the  legitimate  expenses  of  the  Congress,  the  dues  shall  be  reduced  at 
the  next  Congress  to  such  sum  as  may  be  found  adequate  to  provide  such 
expenses. 

6th.  The  following  shall  be  the  basis  of  representation: — 

The  Governor  of  any  State  or  Territory  may  appoint  ten  delegates ;  the  Mayor 
of  each  city  one  delegate,  and  an  additional  delegate  for  each  five  thousand 
inhabitants;  provided,  however,  that  no  city  shall  have  more  than  ten  delegates; 
each  county  may  appoint  one  delegate  through  its  Executive  officer;  every  busi- 
ness organization  one  delegate,  and  an  additional  delegate  for  every  fifty 
members,  provided,  however,  that  no  such  organization  s£all  be  entitled  to  more 
than  ten  delegates. 

7th.  Each  delegate  present  shall  be  entitled  to  one  vote: 

8th.  These  rules  may  be  amended  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  any  succeeding 
Congress. 

Gov.  Waite:  Mr.  Chairman,  some  provision  should  be  made  by 
which  the  representation  will  be  fair  not  only  to  the  State  in  which  the 
Congress  may  happen  to  be  held,  but  also  in  all  the  States  that  send 
delegates. 

Mr.  W.  H.  Culmer  moved  the  adoption  of  the  report. 

It  was  moved  by  a  delegate  from  Arkansas  that  the  report  be  referred 
to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions-,  and  the  Chair  ruled  the  motion  out  of 
order,  as  it  was  the  report  of  a  committee  made  by  instruction  of  a 
previous  Congress  and  could  not  be  referred  to  another  committee. 

On  motion  of  Gov.  Waite  seconded  by  Gov.  Prince  the  plan  was 
amended  by  the  addition  to  Sec.  7,  of  the  following :  Provided  that  no 
State  or  Territory  shall  have  more  than  30  votes." 


196  Report  of  Proceedings 

The  report  was  then  unanimously  adopted  as  amended. 

Mr.  Whitmore  :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  simply  want  to  state  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Congress  that  now  it  becomes  the  duty,  under  the  rules,  of 
every  delegation  to  select  the  names  of  its  committeemen  to  serve  for 
the  ensuing  year,  and  these  names  should  be  handed  in  before  the 
Congress  finally  adjourns. 

It  was  then  moved  that  on  Friday  morning  the  roll  be  called  and  that 
each  State  present  the  names  of  a  Vice-President  and  Executive  Com- 
mitteemen. 

It  was  then  ordered  that  the  question  of  the  location  of  next  congress 
be  brought  up  on  Friday  morning  at  11  o'clock. 

Mr.  F.  J.  Cannon  :  I  desire  to  inquire  of  the  Chair  if  there  was  not 
unfinished  upon  the  table  of  the  Clerk  the  report  of  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions.  I  make  the  point  of  order  that  we  should  continue  with 
the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  without  the  intervention  of 
other  business. 

A  Delegate:  I  rise  to  a  question  of  personal  privilege:  This 
morning,  before  this  congress,  I  introduced  a  resolution.  That  resolu- 
tion was  read  before  this  Congress  and  sent  to  the  Clerk's  desk  to  be 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions.  That  resolution  was  lost  or 
•destroyed  and  never  went  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions.  Our 
delegation  called  that  up  before  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  and  it 
-could  not  be  found,  and  therefore  the  Committee  instructed  us  to 
re-introduce  that  resolution  and  that  it  be  reported  to  this  body  here. 
I  ask  that  that  resolution  which  was  destroyed  this  morning  come  before 
this  body  and  that  action  be  taken  upon  it  at  once. 

The  Chairman:  How  is  the  Chairman  to  know  that  this  has  come 
from  the  Committee  -on  Resolutions  ? 

Mr.  Butterfield  (Secretary) :  They  spoke  to  me  about  that  and  I 
have  been  trying  to  find  it  ever  since. 

Mr.  Smith  (of  Iowa) :  I  was  present  when  that  was  spoken  of. 

Mr.  F.  J.  Cannon:  I  am  not  standing  on  technicalities — -I  am  ask- 
ing if  there  is  not  some  unfinished  business  before  this  convention? 

Motion  was  made  to  adjourn  until  to-night. 

It  was  then  announced  that  tickets  for  the  theater  and  concert 
to-morrow  evening  could  be  had  on  application  at  the  Secretary's  office. 

The  meeting  then  adjourned  until  7:30  p.  m. 

Wednesday  Evening  Session. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  President  Cannon  at  7:40  p.  m. 

Mr.  J.  C.  Green,  of  Alaska,  gave  an  exhibition  of  stereopticon 
views  of  Alaska,  with  a  description  of  the  climate  and  resources  of 
that  country,  lasting  about  20  minutes. 


Trans -Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  197 

The  Chairman  :  I  now  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  to  you  Mr. 
Hugh  Craig  of  San  Francisco,  who  will  address  you  on  the  subject  of 
Hawaii. 

ADDRESS  OF  HUGH  CRAIG,  ESQ. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  When  the  Trans-Missis- 
sippi Congress  •  met  last  in  San  Francisco  the  Hawaiian  Islands 
were  then  under  a  provisional  government.  It  was  a  very  doubt- 
ful condition  of  affairs.  It  was  not  very  well  known  nor  very 
certain  what  the  result  would  be.  About  that  time  it  was  sup- 
posed that  our  authorities  at  Washington  would  undertake  to  re-in- 
state upon  the  throne  there  the  celebrated  lady  whom  you  may  remem- 
ber by  the  name  of  Liliuokalani.  Some  of  the  better  counsels  prevailed 
and  it  is  now  a  full-fledged  Republic,  which  Mr.  Sanford  B.  Dole  had 
the  honor  and  pleasure  of  declaring  in  a  document  reading  something 
like  this,  u  I,  Sanford  B.  Dole,  in  accordance  with  the  authority 
invested  in  me  by  the  provision  of  the  Executive  Committee,  declare 
this  to  be  the  Republic  of  Hawaii. "  That  is  very  much  like  something 
we  have  heard  of  before.  The  American  people  have  established 
another  branch  of  our  great  nation,  and  they  are  very  anxious  to  be 
taken  into  the  family  nest,  so  that  they  may  be  one  of  us.  As  you 
know,  there  are  to-day  some  45  States  of  the  Union,  and  there  are  4 
Territories  knocking  to  come  in,  and  Hawaii  does  not  want  to  be  the 
last  one.     It  wants  to  come  in  and  make  up  the  fifty. 

Her  claims  for  admission  are  that  she  can  make,  and  does  make,  and 
has  made  a  good  showing,  for  all  that  has  been  done,  and  she  can  point 
that,  in  the  period  of  her  history  since  the  American  people  have  taken 
charge  of  her  commerce,  there  has  been  such  a  development  as  will 
insure  to  them  favorable  attention  when  they  next  ask  at  Washington 
for  admission. 

I  have  been  asked  by  your  President  to  present  you  with  sundry 
statistics,  information,  experience  gained  in  the  South  Pacific  amongst 
the  people  of  those  islands,  and  show  why  the  Hawaiian  Islands  will 
be  a  valuable  addition  to  our  Republic,  especially  so  to  the  States  on 
the  Pacific  Coast,  California  in  particular.  Asa  matter  of  fact  it  is 
the  only  foreign  commerce  —  that  between  Hawaii  and  California  — 
which  is  done  almost  exclusively  under  our  flag.  Of  their  imports, 
amounting  to  $7,700,000.00,  77  per  cent  are  obtained  from  California. 
Of  their  exports,  over  $10,000,000,  99  per  cent  come  to  the  Pacific 
Coast  States.  Their  foreign  commerce,  imports  and  exports,  amount 
to  $18,000,000.  To  give  you  some  idea  of  how  valuable  this  is  becom- 
ing, the  population  of  Hawaii  through  American  enterprise  amounts  to 
about  90,000.  Of  this,  90,000,  35,000  are  native  Hawaiians,  about 
6,000  half-caste,  about  15,000  Chinese,  13,000  Japs  and  9,000  Portu- 


198  Report  of  Proceedings 

guese,  about  2,000  native  born  Americans,  about  2,500  Germans, 
British,  Italians,  French,  and  about  6,000  Hawaiian  born  children  of 
Americans,  British  and  Germans,  altogether  making  90,000.  They 
show  that  such  an  amount  of  development  has  taken  place  in  conse- 
quence of  the  American  management  of  their  commercial  affairs  that 
they  will  compare  favorably  with  any  part  of  the  world. 

Now,  you  will  find  if  you  take  their  commerce  and  exports  and  im- 
ports amounting  to  $18,000,000,  and  divide  by  90,000,  that  it  gives  an 
average  of  $200  per  capita.  Divide  the  whole  of  the  foreign  commerce 
of  Great  Britain,  exports  and  imports,  by  the  population,  and  it  gives 
about  $100  per  capita.  Divide  the  foreign  commerce  of  the  United 
States  by  70,000,000,  and  that  gives  you  about  $25  per  capita.  You 
see,  therefore,  that  this  small  community,  sprung  from  a  few  thousand 
Americans  with  their  families,  have  within  the  last  five  years  produced 
something  abnormal  in  the  shape  of  commercial  development. 

(Pointing  to  the  map.)  San  Francisco  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  is 
2,000  miles;  from  the  Sandwich  Islands  to  Yokohoma  is  3,100  miles; 
the  Fiji  Islands,  4,000  miles ;  New  Zealand,  6,000  miles.  This  com- 
merce of  theirs,  we  on  the  Pacific  Coast  —  who  have  helped  to  build  it 
up  —  really  own.  When  the  people  at  Hawaii  become  wealthy  and 
rich  enough  and  they  desire  to  take  their  families  away,  they  come  to 
California,  or  Oregon  or  Washington,  and  build  themselves  a  house, 
and  we  are  glad  to  have  them.  They  have  created  a  vast  amount  of 
wealth.  Their  sugar  amounts  to  300,000  tons  a  year.  They  are  es- 
tablishing coffee  plantations  where  they  are  raising  coffee  that  is  equal 
to  the  Mocha  and  Java  coffee,  and  they  have  in  their  hands  such  a 
property  as  is  worth  saving  and  protecting.  And  now,  at  this  early 
day  in  the  history  of  their  Republic,  they  come  knocking  at  our  doors 
for  admission; — our  own  countrymen,  mind  you  —  men  who  have 
gone  there  from  us  across  the  ocean  to  take  up  this  land,  not  by  spolia- 
tion or  appropriation,  but  by  commercial  progress  and  commercial  in- 
tercourse with  a  people  who  are  anxious  to  have  them  there.  They 
have  obtained  the  title  to  this  land  legitimately ;  they  have  no  apology 
to  make,  or  explanation.  When  they  went  there,  these  Hawaiians  had 
the  ownership  of  the  property  and  the  titles  to  the  land.  President  Dole 
is  an  authority  on  those  titles  and  he  has  written  an  article  upon  it. 

To  give  you  some  idea  of  the  customs  there.  They  are  all  various 
branches  of  a  great  family  that  have  come  across  from  the  East,  and 
some  of  the  people  on  the  other  islands  can  trace  their  origin  to 
Hawaii.  In  the  early  days,  before  the  Europeans  arrived  amongst 
them,  there  was  no  occasion  for  quarrels,  and  when  a  native  would  hear 
about  a  row  going  on  there  he  would  say,  "Who  is  the  woman?" 
"Where  is  the  lamb?"  They  had  nothing  else  to  quarrel  about. 
Their  titles  were  obtained  in  a  very  extraordinary  way.     For  instance,  I 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  199 

will  relate  to  you  something  which,  perhaps,  will  be  new  to  some  of 
our  legal  gentlemen.  As  you  know,  we  have  a  variety  of  titles  in  the 
United  States,  by  inheritance,  purchase,  love  and  affection  and  various 
considerations.  The  question  of  these  titles  there  comes  before  courts 
called  for  the  purpose  and  presided  over  by  legal  gentlemen  who  have 
become  acquainted  with  the  customs  of  the  people  and  assisted  by  a 
couple  of  native  assistants.  Before  them  are  the  claimants,  gesticulat- 
ing and  trying  to  prove  that  each  man  is  the  one  who  should  have  his 
name  put  in  the  grant,  entitling  him  to  the  ownership  of  the  land,  all 
land  there  being  held  in  common.  Women's  rights  there  is  an  imme- 
morial custom  —  they  have  always  had  their  rights.  In  fact,  inherit- 
ance comes  through  the  mother's  side,  as  it  is  always  doubtful,  among 
the  South  Sea  Islanders,  who  the  father  was ;  therefore,  in  all 
these  courts  they  always  trace  back  to  the  mother.  They  always 
know  who  the  mother  is,  but  they  are  not  certain  who  their  fathers 
were.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  the  judge  sat  in  court  and  a 
young  man  claimed  that  his  name  should  be  put  in  the  grant  —  and 
you  will  remember  the  object,  because  the  three  men  whose  names  are 
put  in  the  grant  will  be  handed  the  purchase  money  for  the  land  and  it 
would  be  their  business  to  divide  up  this  amongst  the  people 
interested  —  and  it  generally -followed  that  some  odd  coins  stuck  to  the 
fingers  of  the  three  men.  This  young  man  had  a  great  deal  to  say  to 
explain  to  the  judge  why  his  name  should  be  put  in  the  deed,  because, 
said  he,  "My  fathers  are  buried  upon  that  land."  "  I  was  born 
there."  When  he  got  through,  after  making  a  very  good  impression, 
an  old  man  entered  and  got  up  and  said  to  the  judge,  throwing  off 
every  stitch  of  clothing  that  he  had  on  him:  "Listen,  Chief  Magis- 
trate, this  young  man  has  spoken  wind  only,  there  is  nothing  in  it.  He 
asks  where  his  fathers  were  buried :  here  (slapping  his  chest)  I  will 
tell  you  — ■  that  lad  was  raised  on  that  land.  When  I  was  a  young  man 
I  went  with  my  father  and  my  people  to  that  land  and  there  we 
attacked  the  men  who  lived  on  it  and  owned  it,  and  we  killed  them  and 
ate  them  all,  and  I  had  this  land  when  this  child  came  into  my  hands 
and  was  about  to  dash  his  brains  out  on  the  rocks  and  my  wife  asked 
me  to  give  her  the  boy.  I  did  this" — and  now  you  see  the  base 
ingratitude  of  the  native  character —  "  and  after  raising  him  up  and 
making  a  man  of  him,  now  he  comes  in  and  claims  my  property,  Now, 
Mr.  Magistrate,  I  will  say  to  you  that  I  not  only  have  the  title  to  the 
land  by  the  might  that  enabled  me  to  conquer  it,  but  anything  there 
was  in  his  father  went  into  my  stomach,  mixed  with  my  blood  and 
became  part  of  my  flesh  and  my  bone  and  if  there  is  anything  that  he 
possessed  or  that  he  owned  that  has  not  come  to  me,  I  want  you  to 
tellme."  He  referred  to  the  assistants,  one  on  each  side,  "Howisthat? 
What  do  you  think  about  that?"     "That  is  correct."     That  is  the 


200  Report  of  Proceedings 

South  Sea  Island  method  of  acquiring  land,  and  after  referring  the 
matter  to  his  brother  judges,  they  concluded  that  that  was  about  as 
good  a  title  as  could  be  found  and  that  the  fellow  who  did  kill  and  eat 
up  the  other  fellow  was  entitled  to  the  land.  And  that  is  recognized 
in  the  courts  of  New  Zealand  as  title  by  digestion,  and  the  very  be3t 
title  that  could  be  brought  into  court  (laughter  and  applause). 

Therefore,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  these  Hawaiians  have  reason  to  be 
very  grateful  to  our  fellow-citizens  who  went  over  to  the  islands  and 
did  not  eat  them  up  (laughter).  They  acquired  property  by  legitimate 
methods  and  in  this  way  they  have  come  to  us  with  something  in  thei. 
hands  and  they  ask  us  to  allow  them  to  join  with  us.  And  we  in 
California,  who  are  doing  so  much  of  tbis  business,  when  the  proper 
time  comes,  we  are  going  to  ask  you  to  admit  the  Hawaiian  Islands  to 
participation  in  our  government. 

It  is  said  by  Senator  Morgan  of  Alabama,  that  when  a  crown  falls  in 
the  Western  Empire,  it  is  pulverized,  never  to  be  re-instated,  that  when 
a  scepter  departs,  it  departs  forever. 

Now,  our  countrymen  there  in  Hawaii  for  the  last  fifty  years  have 
tolerated  this  opera  bouffe  play  at  royalty,  but  they  simply  tolerated 
it,  because  they  knew  that  the  time  would  come  when  these  Hawaiians 
would  tire  of  it  themselves,  and  they  would  be  very  glad  to  be  taken 
into  the  American  camp.  When  we  go  back  a  few  years  in  the  history 
of  the  islands,  we  find  that  it  has  been  generally  conceded  that  the 
ultimate  absorption  of  Hawaii  by  the  United  States  was  expected  by  all 
statesmen.  In  1843  the  British  Government  by  one  of  their  navy 
captains,  took  possession  of  the  island,  but  before  the  year  was  out  he 
was  ordered  to  surrender.  Those  representatives  of  their  government 
called  upon  the  Hawaiian  minister  and  said,  "  We  do  not  want  to  have 
trouble  here.  We  want  you  to  join  with  us  in  an  agreement  that  neither 
Great  Britain,  nor  the  United  States,  nor  France,  shall  appropriate  the 
Sandwich  Islands.' '  "  Oh,  no,"  says  Uncle  Sam's  representative,  "We 
know  a  good  thing  when  we  see  it,  I  am  very  glad  you  have  agreed  to 
keep  your  bands  off,  but  the  ripe  plum  will  drop  into  our  hands,  and 
we  have  only  got  to  wait." 

Later  in  1853,  a  Hawaiian  Commission  was  sent  to  England  and  the 
British  Minister  said,  u  No,  the  inevitable  destiny  of  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  ie  ]that  an  American  Protectorate  shall  be  placed  over  them,  or 
they  will  be  annexed  to  the  United  States."  This  is  true  history,  so 
there  is  nothing  surprising  to  us  in  the  West,  that  our  people  who  know 
the  country,  who  have  developed  it,  should  come  to  our  doors  and  knock 
for  admission. 

Now,  as  to  the  matter  of  investments :  we  have  thirty  millions  of 
dollars  invested  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  belonging  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  five  millions  belonging  to  Great  Britain  and  two  millions 


Trans -Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  201 

to  Germany.  You  see  we  have  the  preponderance  in  every  direction. 
The  civilization  is  that  of  America ;  the  business  is  done  in  dollars  and 
cents ;  the  social  life  is  that  of  the  United  States ;  they  are  hospitable  to 
a  fault.  It  is  the  rendezvous  of  the  United  States  fleet  in  the  Pacific. 
Our  United  States  Navy  people  have  always  recognized  that  the  time 
would  come  when  Hawaii  would  drop  into  our  hands,  and  we  are 
very  proud  to  know  that  when  the  time  does  come,  we  are  ready  to  take 
her  in.  We  shall  do  what  we  can  to  help  her  into  the  United  States. 
She  is  the  guardian  of  all  our  Pacific  Coast,  from  Oonalaska  down  to 
San  Diego. 

It  has  been  said  that  it  is  too  far  away  —  that  we  cannot  govern 
Hawaii,  excepting  at  a  great  expense.  It  would  entail  upon  us  there 
an  army  of  men  and  a  navy  at  considerable  expense.  Well,  there 
is  something  in  that,  and  as  Uncle  Sam  is  economizing,  and  the  Post- 
master-General is  cutting  down  his  appropriations,  we  say,  if  Uncle 
Sam  cannot  see  his  way  to  take  this  thing  in,  we  can  arrange  it  over 
there  ;  we  are  quite  prepared  to  attach  it  to  California ;  we  will  undertake 
to  care  for  it ;  we  will  send  the  necessary  troops  there  to  maintain  order 
and  we  still  have  some  constructors  of  marine  shipping  left  there.  We 
have  the  "  Irving  M.  Scott  "  and  others ;  we  can  reproduce  monitors  in 
the  shape  of  the  "  Monterey, "  the  "  Charleston/'  the  "  San  Francisco," 
the  "  Olympia,"  and  the  "  Oregon ;  "  we  have  plenty  of  iron,  and  men 
to  man  them  with,  men  to  build  them  and  we  have  the  gold  coin.  I  am 
sure,  I  express  the  sentiment,  not  only  of  California,  but  of  Oregon  and 
Washington,  when  I  say  that  if  it  cannot  be  done  through  Congress  we 
will  have  to  take  care  of  it  on  the  other  side.  But  we  never  will  permit 
any  other  Government  to  take  possession  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands, 
(applause).  I  would  call  attention  to  the  relative  positions  of  San 
Francisco  and  Nicaragua  and  the  Hawaiian  Islands  ;  if  it  had  been  put  on 
the  map  properly,  it  would  show  you  that  the  Hawaiian  Islands  are  the 
guardians  also  of  any  canal  that  maybe  opened  on  the  Isthmus  —  and  here 
again  I  want  to  compliment  the  artist  who  got  this  map  up.  We  not  only 
put  through  the  resolutions  for  the  canal  to-day,  but  he  has  given  us  a 
canal  already  (laughter)  only  he  has  put  it  on  the  Isthmus  of  Panama 
instead  of  Nicaragua  (laughter).  If  he  could  convince  the  French 
people  that  blue  water  was  actually  running  there,  that  map  would  be 
worth  one  hundred  million  dollars.  They  spent  two  hundred  millions 
doing  one-fifth  of  the  work  that  is  necessary  to  put  that  work  on  the 
Panama  canal  through,  so  that  it  would  cost  a  thousand  millions  of 
dollars,  before  they  could  successfully  put  through  a  canal  there,  and 
this  Nicaragua  Canal  which  you  have  heard  about  in  the  resolutions 
to-day,  is  proposed  to  be  put  through  for  one  hundred  millions. 

Now  it  has  been  claimed,  and  claimed  from  Washington,  that  a  long 
line  of  distinguished  Presidents  have  been  opposed  to  going  beyond 


202  Report  of  Proceedings 

Our  boundaries,  for  fear  of  getting  us  into  trouble  with  foreign  nations. 
They  say  we  cannot  take  in  Hawaii,  it  is  away  beyond  our  coast,  we 
would  better  get  along  with  what  we  have,  and  keep  between  the  Pacific 
and  the  Atlantic  and  let  these  outside  places  go.  Now,  the  race  from 
which  we  have  sprung  has  never  had  any  difficulty  in  assimilating  ter- 
ritory. If  you  will  just  think  back  a  little,  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  never 
backs  out  at  a  big  thing  in  the  shape  of  new  property,  never  (applause). 
You  never  hear  of  the  British  Government  rejecting  something  in  the 
shape  of  a  new  colony  that  is  offered  to  her  —  at  least  I  do  not  remem- 
ber it,  and  if  we  will  remember  back  in  our  own  history,  I  think  we 
will  find  that  the  men  whose  memory  is  the  greenest,  the  men  we  delight 
to  hold  up  as  examples  to  our  children,  and  whose  names  are  most 
prominent  in  the  history  of  the  United  States,  are  the  men  who  have 
been  led  forward  by  that  acquisitiveness  and  that  desire  to  extend  the 
territory  of  the  United  States,  which  has  always  brought  to  us  good 
fortune  and  prosperity.  If  you  will  go  back  to  1803,  Mr.  Jefferson 
found  that  some  other  people  owned  the  territory  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  he  did  not  like  it  that  13  colonies  consisting  then 
in  population  of  about  5,000,000  had  only  about  827,000  square  miles 
of  territory.  Jefferson  thought  he  had  to  provide  for  the  future.  He 
wanted  some  more.  He  did  not  like  the  idea  that  a  foreign  fleet  might 
enter  the  Mississippi  river  and  come  up  to  St.  Louis, 
so  he  called  to  his  counsel  Mr.  Monroe  and  he  sent  him 
to  France  as  special  envoy.  He  said :  "  You  must  acquire  that 
Louisiana  property,  no  matter  at  what  cost.  We  cannot  afford  that  a 
foreign  nation  should  hold  that ;  we  must  have  it  for  our  children. 
Upon  the  success  of  your  mission  depends  the  life  of  the  United 
States."  Monroe  was  successful,  and  it  is  related  as  the  greatest 
achievement  of  Jefferson's.time,  costing  some  $15,000,000  for  1,200,- 
€00  square  miles  of  territory  or  about  $12.50  per  square  mile.  It  did 
not  cause  Jefferson  any  trouble,  and  when  he  was  remonstrated  with 
by  people  who  said  then,  "We  have  more  territory  than  we  can  handle ; 
we  are  going  away  beyond  the  Father  of  Waters  and  we  never  can  pro- 
tect it."  "Protect  it,"  said  he:  "  Why,  this  is  the  greatest  govern- 
ment on  the  face  of  the  earth"  — and  he  only  had  5,000,000  of  people 
behind  him.  He  said:  "  It  is  the  only  government  where  every  man 
at  the  call  of  the  nation  will  fly  to  its  standard  to  protect  it,  without 
having  to  impress  him  (applause)."  Then  later  that  spirit  of  deter- 
mination to  hold  what  we  had  got  and  get  more,  if  we  could,  was  shown 
in  1812  and  1814,  when  in  the  time  of  Madison  he  conceived  the  idea 
that  while  he  was  having  a  row  with  England,  it  would  be  a  good  time 
to  take  in  the  whole  of  Canada,  and  he  actually  sent  out  troops  for 
that  purpose.  He  never  gave  up  his  determination  to  get  Canada. 
When  Mr.    Monroe   became   president   he   did   not  fear  any  foreign 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  203 

entanglements.  He  sent  General  Jackson  down  to  stop  the  trouble 
with  the  Seminoles,  and  Jackson  took  the  whole  of  Florida.  He 
took  possession  of  Pensacola,  a  Spanish  town,  and  came  and 
reported  to  his  chief  what  he  had  done,  and  he  said,  **  Jackson,  you 
will  have  to  give  those  Spanish  fellows  that  Pensacola  back 
again,  and  tell  them  we  will  give  them  $5,000,000  for  Florida.' ' 
And  they  took  the  $5,000,000.  So  it  appears  that  the  men 
who  accomplished  these  things  are  the  men  whose  memory  is 
the  greenest.  Later,  in  1844,  the  Americans  captured  Texas ;  and 
they  came  with  their  arms  full  of  sheaves  to  get  into  the  Union.  There 
was  a  new  generation  that  had  came  up  then  and  said,  "  We  don't  want 
Texas,"  and  the  bill  was  defeated  and  then  there  was  a  row.  Then 
came  the  cry,  "Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too,  the  annexation  of  Texas 
and  re-occupation  of  Oregon,  50,  40,  or  fight  (applause)."  Twenty- 
three  million  of  people  defied  the  whole  world  and  said,  "  We  will  take 
what  we  want."  That  was  the  war  cry,  the  slogan  of  the  election  when 
Polk  was  elected,  to  take  in  more  territory.  When  Texas  came  in  then 
they  did  not  have  enough.  There  was  another  territory  south  of  them 
and  they  said  they  would  give  us  that  territory  if  we  would  give  them 
$3,000,000.  And  then  for  $18,000,000  we  got  part  of  Colorado,  Nevada, 
Utah,  New  Mexico,  Arizona  and  the  whole  of  California,  about  2,000,- 
000  square  miles,  costing  a  little  more  per  square  mile  than  Jefferson 
had  to  pay  for  1,200,000  square  miles,  but  we  have  never  regretted 
it.  There  were  only  23,000,000  people  behind  Mr.  Polk  when  he  under- 
took that.  Then  a  little  later,  in  about  1848,  when  that  matter  was 
closed  up,  there  came  an  opportunity  for  a  Secretary  of  State,  whose 
name  will  be  revered  as  long  as  the  English  language  lasts,  and  no  other 
man  since  Cromwell  has  recognized  the  capacity  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race  for  self-government  better  than  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  greatest  of 
all  the  presidents  (applause).  When  the  time  came  that  Russia  was 
tired  of  Alaska  and  was  ready  to  take  $7,200,000,  Mr.  Seward  did  not  sit 
down  with  a  map  and  figure  up, ■  'Well,  Oonalaskais  2,000  miles  from  San 
Francisco,  and  we  might  get  into  foreign  complications  before  we  could 
send  a  navy  there."  He  just  paid  the  money  and  took  the  territory,  and 
he  acquired  600,000  square  miles  for  $7,200,000.  Is  there  anybody 
within  the  sound  of  my  voice  likely  to  say  that  Mr.  Seward  made  a 
mistake,  that  we  would  take  that  money  back  and  give  some  other  nation 
Alaska?  Why,  if  Mr.  Green  had  had  the  time  to  tell  you  what  we 
know  about  Alaska,  it  would  astonish  you.  And  now  two  or  three 
figures.  You  must  not  imagine  that  I  am  romancing;  the  Treadwell 
mine,  running  260  stamps,  paid  in  dividends  last  year,  $779,000.  The 
Alaska  Packing  Company  which  controls  the  Alaska  canneries,  might 
just  as  well  have  put  up  1,200,000  cases  of  salmon  at  $4.00  a  case, 
but  they  were  afraid  of  overloading  the  market  and  only  put  up  600,- 


204  Beport  of  Proceedings 

000.  Last  year  the  whalers  captured  300  whales,  each  whale  worth 
for  whalebone  $5,000, —  a  million  and  a  half  dollars;  now  add  the 
whaling  interest,  the  canning  and  mining  interests  —  and  we  don't 
know  what  the  product  of  the  Yukon  Mine  is.  All  along  that  country 
shown  by  Mr.  Green  to-night  men  mine  and  obtain  enough  in  three 
months  to  come  down  to  San  Francisco,  Portland,  Seattle  and  Tacoma 
and  have  a  high  old  time  the  other  nine  months,  and  they  do  not  give 
it  away,  either  (applause). 

I  only  wish  to  show  that  the  ppople  of  the  United  States  have  never 
made  any  mistake  in  the  acquiring  of  territory.  Therefore  we  on  the 
West  say  to  you,  "  We  must  have  Hawaii,  we  cannot  let  anybody  else 
have  it.  We  propose  to  overrun  the  whole  of  that  South  Pacific 
some  day ;  we  propose  to  keep  that  as  a  safety  point  for  our  people 
with  our  ships  and  our  steamers."  Humboldt  has  said  that  the 
commerce  of  the  Pacific  will  in  time  exceed  the  commerce  of  the 
Atlantic,  and  Wm.  H.  Seward  said  that  the  greatest  develop- 
ment of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  will  be  found  on  the  shores 
of  the  Pacific.  Now,  this  is  not  boasting.  These  are  men  of  common 
sense  and  mature  judgment,  of  intellect  and  capacity  enough  to  take 
in  the  whole  thing.  And  we  are  of  the  same  opinion  as  Mr.  Humboldt 
and  Wm.  H.  Seward.  And  then  we  have  a  grand  territory  ourselves* 
It  does  not  increase  very  fast,  but  some  of  the  people  in  the  East  should 
understand  that  there  is  plenty  of  land  there,  plenty  of  water,  good 
sound  currency,  gold  and  silver  —  no  paper  heritage  on  our  side  ;  the 
State  is  not  in  debt ;  we  own  everything  we  have  got.  Those  of  us  who 
are  in  debt,  we  owe  it  to  each  other,  and  when  the  thing  gets  very  tight 
we  just  say :  "Well,  you  will  have  to  wait  —  it  is  very  unfortunate  that 
we  cannot  pay  the  interest  on  our  mortgage,  and  if  you  do  not  like  it 
you  can  take  the  property." 

One  of  our  savings  banks  the  other  day,  which  has  a  capital  of 
$1,000,000  and  deposits  of  $24,000,000,  said  to  a  few  of  our  friends  in 
San  Francisco  who  proposed  to  build  a  parallel  railroad  to  the  Southern 
Pacific  in  the  San  Joaquin,  "  Put  us  down  for  $50,000,  because  if  you 
cannot  build  a  road  at  such  a  price  as  to  carry  wheat  from  the  head  of 
the  San  Joaquin  down  to  tide  water  for  less  than  $4.60  a  ton  (which 
we  were  paying  for  transportation  when  wheat  was  worth  $40.00  a  ton, 
and  we  are  still  paying  $4.60  a  ton,  and  it  is  only  worth  $17.00  a  ton) 
why,  our  securities  do  not  amount  to  much."  Thus  you  see  we  help 
each  other.  Therefore  we  have  a  sympathetic  feeling  for  our  neighbors 
and  our  countrymen  2,000  miles  off  from  the  coast,  and  we  propose 
that  they  shall  not  be  left  out  in  the  cold. 

Now,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  my  time  is  nearly  up,  and  you  will 
hear  something  on  the  Nicaragua  Canal ;  but  before  I  take  my  seat 
I  want  to  say  that  besides  Hawaii  we  have  an  overwhelming  appre- 


Trans-Mississipiri  Commercial  Congress.  205 

ciation  of  what  it  is  to  be  an  American  citizen,  and  we  do  not 
think  you  people  East  of  us  realize  that  out  of  the  English  speaking 
people  on  the  face  of  the  earth  (and  you  can  figure  them  up  at  about 
117,000,000),  70,000,000  of  them  live  in  the  United  States,  and  we 
claim  that,  by  one  of  the  physical  laws  with  which  you  are  all  familiar, 
the  larger  must  in  time  so  affect  the  lesser  that  they  will  all  come  in. 
We  expect  this  in  our  time,  and  we  are  hopeful  that  the  man  will  be 
raised  up,  perhaps  from  a  Pacific  Coast  State,  to  point  out  the  way  by 
which  we  can  do  it,  to  accomplish  not  only  the  annexation  of  Hawaii 
but  everything  in  sight  (laughter) ;  3,300,000  in  Australia,  700,000  in 
New  Zealand,  4,500,000  in  Canada  and  the  38,000,000  in  dear  old  En- 
gland, so  that  the  dream  of  the  philosopher  may  be  realized,  that  the 
English-speaking  race,  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  the  dominant  race,  that 
those  all  over  the  world,  just  the  same  as  the  Americans  have  done  by 
Hawaii,  will  confederate  and  come  together  and  become  one  great  En- 
glish-speaking nation,  and  we  say  with  your  poet: 

"  Thou,  too,  sail  on,  O  Ship  of  State ! 
Sail  on,  O  Union,  strong  and  great! 
Humanity  with  all  its  fears, 
With  all  the  hopes  of  future  years, 
Is  hanging  breathless  on  thy  fate ! 
We  know  what  Master  laid  thy  keel, 
What  workmen  wrought  thy  ribs  of  steel, 
Who  made  each  mast,  and  sail,  and  rope, 
What  anvils  rang,  what  hammers  beat, 
In  what  a  forge  and  what  a  heat 
Were  shaped  the  anchors  of  thy  hope ! 
Fear  not  each  sudden  sound  and  shock; 
'Tis  of  the  wave  and  not  the  rock ; 
'Tis  but  the  flapping  of  the  sail, 
And  not  a  rent  made  by  the  gale ! 
In  spite  of  rock  and  tempest's  roar, 
In  spite  of  false  lights  on  the  shore, 
Sail  on,  nor  fear  to  breast  the  sea ! 
Our  hearts,  our  hopes,  are  all  with  thee; 
Our  hearts,  our  hopes,  our  prayers,  our  tears, 
Our  faith,  triumphant  o'er  our  fears, 
Are  all  with  thee, —  are  all  with  thee!  " 

(Prolonged  applause.) 


Several  resolutions  were  then  introduced  and  referred. 

The  Chairman  :  I  now  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  Prof.  Court- 
enay  De  Kalb,  of  the  Rolla  School  of  Mines  of  the  University  of 
Missouri,  who  will  address  you  on 


206  Report  of  Proceedings 


THE   POLITICAL    RELATIONS   AND    COMMERCIAL    ADVANTAGES    OF 
THE  NICARAGUA  CANAL. 

Prof.  DeKalb's  Address. 

It  is  a  curious  thing  that  where  a  people  rest  their  indorsement  of 
any  project  upon  too  broad  a  general  principle,  there  is  a  corresponding 
lack  of  enthusiasm  for  its  consummation.  If  you  regard  this  Nicaragua 
Canal  as  being  in  some  broad  indeterminate  manner  a  good  thing,  even 
perhaps  a  somewhat  glorious  thing,  believe  me,  you  will  never  avail 
much  in  the  active  propaganda  of  the  undertaking.  It  needs  not  that 
you  see  all  sides  of  this  question,  nor  that  you  understand  all  of  its 
manifold  advantages ;  it  is  enough  if  you  see  one  side,  one  advantage, 
provided  only  that  you  see  it  clearly,  that  you  believe  in  it  with  all 
your  might,  and  will  not  rest  until  you  have  done  your  utmost  to  obtain 
this  canal  for  the  sake  of  that  single  advantage  which  you  have 
perceived. 

It  matters  not  what  may  be  your  vision,  so  long  as  it  is  a  true  one, 
whether  being  a  merchant,  a  farmer,  a  miner,  here  in  this  vast  West, 
you  realize  that  this  canal  will  save  for  you  on  the  goods  you  buy  and 
on  those  you  sell,  no  less  than  thirty  per  cent  in  freights ;  whether 
being  a  railroad  man  you  are  wise  enough  to  shift,  if  possible,  the 
oppressive  burden  of  cheap  and  bulky  freights  to  a  water  route,  so  that 
industry  may  receive  an  impetus,  and  lead  to  vastly  increased  ship- 
ments of  high  class  freights  over  your  railroad,  enabling  you  to  receive 
dividends  where  now  you  receive  none,  or  larger  ones  where  they  have 
been  small ;  neither  does  it  matter  whether  your  interest  is  a  purely 
civic  one,  a  patriotic  eagerness  to  blot  out  sectionalism  by  removing  the 
barriers  of  discriminative  rates  with  their  attendant  hardships  and 
social  discontent ;  or,  still  further,  whether  you  seek  to  keep  the  clutch 
of  powers  beyond  the  sea  from  that  point  toward  which  the  commerce 
of  the  world  is  destined  to  converge,  but  which  will  never  grow  familiar 
with  vessels  flying  the  stars  and  stripes  unless  the  freedom  which  that 
banner  and  that  alone  proclaims,  is  guaranteed  by  our  government  for 
this  Nicaraguan  water-way. 

No  matter,  I  say,  what  may  be  the  reason  which  to  you  is  all  suffi- 
cient, only  be  no  longer  apathetic,  as  our  people  have  been  in  the  past. 

Only  once  has  the  American  nation  been  thoroughly  aroused  on  the 
subject  of  this  canal,  and  that  sudden  interest  related  more  directly  to 
diplomatic  troubles  than  to  the  building  of  the  canal  itself.  Public 
feeling  waxed  hot  in  the  decade  of  the  fifties  when  England  was  schem- 
ing to  undermine  our  conceded  rights  in  Nicaragua.  The  most  trivial 
incident  would  then  have  sufficed  to  precipitate  a  war  between  the  two 
great  Anglo-Saxon  powers,  but  amidst  so  much  excitement,  with  the 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  207 

golden  sands  of  California  drawing  the  eyes  of  all  toward  the  far  Pacific, 
the  practical  endeavor  to  open  a  shorter  route  by  a  ship  canal  fell 
crushed,  a  hopeless  undertaking,  for  want  of  financial  aid.  Perhaps  the 
hand  of  Providence  guided  us  to  our  greater  good.  Had  our  resources 
then  gone  into  that  vast  enterprise  we  would  not  so  soon  have  seen  our 
fair  republic  spanned  from  sea  to  sea  by  roads  of  iron  ;  the  plains  and 
mountains  of  our  middle  west  might  still  have  been  a  desert ;  the  unity 
of  our  nation  still  unattained ;  our  aggregate  wealth  only  a  fraction  of 
what  it  is  to-day.  Such  speculations  may  be  idle.  We  know  what  ts, 
but  cannot  so  surely  tell  what  might  have  been.  There  is  no  doubt, 
however,  that  had  our  fathers  built  the  Nicaragua  Canal,  we  would  have 
had  the  burden  to-day  of  practically  rebuilding  the  whole  of  it,  for 
then  it  was  thought  that  a  depth  of  twenty  feet  would  suffice  for  the 
largest  ships  that  would  demand  a  passage ;  now,  our  small  freight 
steamers  require  that  depth,  while  our  ocean  greyhounds  would  plow 
the  bottom  at  30  feet.  The  cost  of  such  a  reconstruction  would  almost 
equal  the  outlay  for  a  new  canal. 

For  good  or  ill,  the  canal  remained  a  dream  unrealized.  We  were 
fast  losing  that  pre-eminence  on  the  sea  which  had  been  the  fruit  of 
New  England's  trading  with  the  Indies.  We  had  made  concessions  to 
England  in  repealing  the  law  for  discriminative  duties  favoring  Ameri- 
can shipping,  which  placed  British  vessels  on  an  equality  with  our  own. 
Finally  came  the  troubled  years  of  civil  war  and  reconstruction.  By 
this  time  the  ruin  of  our  foreign  commerce  was  complete.  As  we  began 
once  more  to  prosper,  every  dollar  of  our  resources  was  expended  in 
developing  the  natural  wealth  of  our  own  domain.  Never  before  in  the 
history  of  the  world  had  so  vast  and  valuable  a  field  for  capital  been 
wrought  upon  with  such  skill  and  daring  faith.  Thus  is  it  that  America 
stands  supreme,  the  richest  nation  the  world  has  ever  seen,  and  the 
wisest  nation  in  the  comprehension  and  use  of  its  God-given  endow- 
ments. It  is  not  strange  that  we  saw  with  indifference  the  growth  of 
England's  naval  power,  while  our  ships  that  once  had  sailed  so  proudly 
lay  rotting  in  our  ports.  We  had  no  need  to  go  abroad  when  there 
was  more  than  we  could  do  at  home.  And  so  our  people,  absorbed  in 
their  own  affairs,  having  such  feeble  connections  with  international 
trade,  could  not  be  induced  to  take  an  active  interest  in  the  Nicaragua 
Canal.  Its  value  is  seen  by  many,  a  superficial  interest  in  it  is  wide- 
spread, but  the  purses  of  our  citizens  have  remained  closed  against  it. 
For  six  whole  years  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  has  been 
incorporated  and  no  more  than  $6,000,000  have  been  expended  upon 
the  work.  Perhaps  this  again  is  fortunate.  I  do  not  mean  to  stand  as 
an  apostle  of  that  peculiar  faith  which  is  a  part  of  the  religion 
of  so  many  Americans ;  that  faith  which  reposes  in  blind  confi- 
dence  that   if    you   will  only   repress   enthusiasts,   and   let   America 


208  Report  of  Proceedings 

drift,  she  will  infallibly  drift  in  the  right  direction.  America 
does  a  great  deal  of  this  unguided  drifting.  (  We  let  the  winds  of  fate 
drive  us  on  in  the  very  face  of  threatening  storm  clouds,  and  no  one 
reefs  a  sail  until  the  evil  is  upon  usA  Some  one,  we  believe,  will  surely 
devise  a  plan  to  compose  the  raging  tempest ;  some  one  will  invent  a 
machine  to  blow  our  enemy  into  small  pieces,  and  we  will  grow  rich  on 
the  fragments.  In  fact  we  do  generally  rise  nobly  to  an  emergency, 
and,  if  we  must,  we  will  take  possession  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  while 
our  European  cousins  are  adjusting  their  spectacles  to  see  what  we  are 
about.  This  is  far  from  being  our  wisest  course,  for  we  should  have  to 
pass  through  a  crisis  to  be  driven  to  it  in  this  spasmodic  manner.  There 
is  a  tangled  skein  of  treaties  which  may  draw  into  a  hopeless  Gordian 
knot  as  we  proceed,  only  to  be  undone  by  some  Alexander's  sword  if 
we  allow  this  matter  to  drift  on  the  uncertain  current  of  circumstances. 
There  are  two  things  which  would  compel  America  to  own  this  canal. 
The  first  would  be  the  enactment  of  laws  favoring  the  growth  of  our 
merchant  marine,  which  is  not  unlikely  to  follow  the  building  of  our 
navy.  The  existence  of  a  great  ocean  commerce  would  render  a  canal 
under  American  management  imperative.  The  second  is  the  stagnation 
of  our  internal  commerce,  which  is  becoming  more  decided  year  by 
year  through  the  high  freight  charges  of  our  transcontinental  railroads. 
The  existing  rates  are  higher  than  can  be  borne  by  the  great  volume  of 
goods  which  would  be  offered  for  shipment  on  easier  terms.  And  yet 
the  railroads  have  reduced  their  charges  to  the  lowest  possible  limit 
until  some  new  stimulus  has  given  to  the  people  of  the  West  the  means  to 
create  a  greatly  increased  traffic  in  high-class  goods  for  these  roads  to 
carry.  We  cannot  fail  to  recognize  the  solemn  truth  that  we  have 
nearly  reached  the  limit  of  advantages  which  can  be  gained  from  rail 
communication  alone  through  the  western  United  States,  and  that  they 
are  proving  inadequate  for  the  needs  of  commerce.  In  other  words, 
the  railroads  cannot  afford  to  carry  for  great  distances  those  crude 
products  which  are  necessary  for  any  great  expansion  of  industry,  save 
at  prices  which  are  practically  prohibitory.  Those  reciprocal  relations 
between  every  portion  of  our  commonwealth,  so  vitally  essential  to  the 
integrity  of  our  institutions,  are  checked  by  such  an  obstacle  to  easy 
commercial  intercourse.  It  is  the  obstruction  of  circulation  in  one 
member,  disturbing  the  functions  of  the  whole  organism.  The  natural 
development  of  the  entire  country  is  impeded  by  charges  which  restrict 
an  interchange  of  commodities,  and  a  separation  of  interests  between 
the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  regions  of  the  United  States  will  grow  more 
marked  with  each  passing  day  while  these  conditions  remain  unchanged. 
(There  are  some  who  profess  to  see  that  this  separation  will  lead  to  a 
severance  of  political  union.  The  Civil  War  is  a  sufficient  answer  to 
this  prophecy,  but  that  severe   financial   distress  will   result  can  not 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  209 

he  doubted,  unless  we  provide  relief  by  means  of  an  Isthmian  ship- 
canal.) 

Out  fathers,  fifty  years  age,  had  reached  a  point  in  national  develop- 
ment where  they  saw  the  need  of  foreign  capital  to  assist  in  the  unfold- 
ing of  our  resources.  They  had  fed  upon  liberal  ideas.  Freedom, 
equality,  brotherly  love,  friendly  intercourse  with  all  the  world,  had 
been  the  themes  of  countless  orations  from  the  beginning  of  the  republic. 
These  circumstances  created  a  public  sentiment  which  hailed  with 
approval  the  broad  principle  laid  down  in  the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty 
that  the  Nicaragua  Canal  should  be  built  for  the  good  of  the  world, 
and  should  exist  under  the  protection  of  all  the  great  powers  of  the 
earth.  Few  men  in  those  days  thought  of  taking  a  more  selfish  stand 
until  the  diplomatic  controversies  over  this  vexatious  treaty  had  fired 
the  people  with  indignation.  The  spirit  then  aroused  was  never  quite 
extinguished.  It  survived  the  tumult  of  the  Civil  War,  and  re-appeared 
intensified  in  1880  when  President  Hayes  announced  that  we  could  but 
regard  any  Isthmian  canal  as  practically  a  continuation  of  our  coast 
line.  Since  then  we  have  ceased  not  to  hear  of  a  ca^al  by  Americans 
for  Americans.  It  went  so  far  that  a  treaty  was  drawn  up  between 
Secretary  Frelinghuysen  and  the  Nicaraguan  minister  providing  for  the 
construction  of  the  canal  out  of  public  funds  of  the  United  States, 
with  special  privileges  accorded  to  our  commerce.  This  so-called 
"jingo"  policy,  in  which  Mr.  Blaine  likewise  copiously  indulged, 
has  curiously  affected  popular  opin  on  regarding  the  canal.  In  the 
East,  where  our  people  come  into  close  relations  with  foreign  countries, 
and  where  the  great  cities  are  so  largely  composed  of  an  alien  popu- 
lation that  even  the  press  is  too  often  tinctured  by  foreign  sentiments, 
a  broad  view  is  taken,  and  there  exists  a  general  indifference  as  to 
whether  the  canal  be  built  by  the  United  States,  or  by  European 
nations.  In  the  West,  where  less  dependence  is  felt  upon  foreign 
commerce,  where  an  inland  security  and  independence  inspires  a 
stronger  sense  of  national  self-sufficiency,  a  sturdy,  if  indeed,  some- 
what vainglorious  Americanism  asserts  itself.  They  are,  perhaps,  no 
more  truly  patriotic  than  others,  but  they  are  patriotic  everywhere  and 
at  all  times,  and  I  thank  God  for  it.  We  need  this  healthy  American- 
ism to  correct  the  alienism  that  is  growing  to  such  alarming,  strength 
along  our  Atlantic  seaboard.  But  we  can  not  do  what  all  these  earnest 
patriots  demand  without  violation  of  our  solemn  compacts ;  neither  is 
it  necessary.  Surely  America  is  great  enough  to  build  this  canal  out 
of  her  own  financial  strength,  she  is  great  enough  to  protect  it,  she  is 
great  enough  to  insure  to  all  nations  the  free  use  of  it  on  equal  terms 
with  herself. 

The  first  incentive  to  the  opening  of  a  canal  across  the  American 
Isthmus  was  a  shorter  route  for  the  Spanish  galleons  to  the  jeweled 


210  Report  of  Proceedings 

Indies.  It  was  soberly  thought  of  in  Spanish  councils  in  1550 ;  seri- 
ously discussed  in  1620  when  Diego  de  Mercado  submitted  a  remark- 
able report  on  the  Nicaraguan  route.  But  we  all  know  how  Spain,  as 
if  by  way  of  expiation  for  her  excesses,  fell  prostrate  beneath  the  blows 
of  enemies  within  and  without.  But  it  was  not  Spain  alone  that  fore- 
saw the  need  of  this  canal.  England,  too,  cast  her  eyes  in  that  direc- 
tion. /Marvelous  England!  Marvelous  above  all  in  that  unswerving 
fidelity  to  a  single  purpose  in  her  foreign  policy,  whether  ruled  by  a 
puritan  Cromwell,  or  an  autocratic  Hanoverian  king,  or  directed  by  a 
Palmerston  or  a  Gladstone  under  a  mild  Victoria,  the  same  yesterday 
and  to-day,  grasping  island,  and  cape,  and  marshy  coast,  wherever  she 
can  gain  a  footing  to  menace  her  rivals  and  secure  control  of  the  com- 
mercial highways  of  the  earth.N)  Slowly  for  a  century  she  threw  her 
net  around  the  isthmus,  until  in  1782  she  flung  her  forces,  under  the 
famous  Nelson,  against  the  Nicaraguan  colony,  seeking  to  capture  that 
very  waterway  where  we  now  propose  to  build  a  ship  canal.  How  one 
brave  Spanish  woman  saved  her  country,  and  sent  Nelson  away 
mourning  the  failure  of  an  expensive  expedition,  is  matter  of  history 
which  you  may  learn  elsewhere.  But  England  kept  firm  her  grip  upon 
the  Mosquito  Shore,  and  secured  by  treatj'  a  license  to  cut  logwood  in 
Belize, —  fatal  license,  which  furnished  a  pretext  for  taking  full  posses- 
sion of  this  valuable  country,  commanding  both  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and 
the  Caribbean  Sea.  Meanwhile  the  United  States  had  risen  into  promi- 
nence, was  expanding  over  the  whole  of  North  America,  and  England  saw 
clearly  that  we  would  need  a  trans-isthmian  canal  for  commmunication 
with  our  Pacific  territories.  Would  that  the  wisdom  of  those  British 
statesmen  had  been  our  wisdom,  and  that  we  had  taken  steps  to  control 
this  waterwa}',  without  British  interference,  making  her  understand  that 
she  too  must  fall  under  the  prohibition  of  the  Monroe  doctrine,  even  if 
it  was  enunciated  by  us  at  her  suggestion  when  she  became  alarmed  at 
the  Spanish- American  schemes  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte !  But  Napoleon 
finally  fallen,  England  defied  the  Monroe  doctrine  which  had  once  been 
her  benefactor,  and  no  more  than  one  year  ago  concluded  an  important 
Mexican  treaty  in  defiance  of  it.  So,  she  waited  not  an  hour,  when  she 
saw  that  California  must  be  ours,  to  fasten  upon  the  Nicaraguan  water- 
way, seizing  its  supposed  western  terminus  from  Honduras,  and  its 
eastern  or  Greytown  end  from  Nicaragua  under  pretext  of  territorial 
claims  of  her  ward,  the  Mosquito  Coast.  I  am  not  here  to  give  you  the 
history  of  this  enterprise.  You  know  how  this  action  of  Great  Britain 
did  at  last  arouse  our  statesmen ;  how  we  wrung  from  England  the 
Clayton-Bulwer  treaty  of  1850,  and  how  she  triumphed  over  us  in 
drawing  up  that  document,  by  her  superior  diplomatic  skill ;  how  im- 
mediately she  defied  the  treaty,  and  insulted  Nicaragua  in  demanding 
that  she  come  to  terms  about  the  building  of  this  canal  by  England, 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  211 

because,  forsooth,  she  said,  the  United  States  had  oot  the  necessary- 
financial  strength  nor  spirit  of  enterprise  requisite  for  such  an  under- 
taking. Again  you  have  heard  how  we  finally  were  forced  by  British 
obstruction  of  our  commerce  across  Nicaragua  to  send  Capt.  Hollins, 
staunch  old  sea-dog,  down  to  Grey  town  to  burn  American  powder  in 
their  faces,  and  to  ship  these  Englishmen,  very  much  disgruntled,  and 
11  surprised  "  as  Lord  Palmerston  said,  over  to  their  island  of  Jamaica. 
Then  it  is  familiar,  aye,  disgraceful,  history,  how  that  we  agreed  to 
settle  all  these  troubles  by  accepting  treaties  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  republics  of  Nicaragua  and  Honduras,  relative  to  the  Mos- 
quito Coast,  provided  these  were  drawn  in  accordance  with  the  Ameri- 
can interpretation  of  the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty.  Childish  simplicity! 
As  if  an  ungenerous  rival  could  contract  against  his  own  interests.  So 
we  see  the  old  Mosquito  question  still  hanging  over  our  heads,  fraught 
with  germs  of  future  mischief,  unless  we  take  hold  of  this  canal. ques- 
tion with  a  firmer  grasp. 

I  wish  that  I  might  give  you  a  full  account  of  this  Clayton-Bulwer 
treaty,  and  its  subsequent  history.  Every  American  citizen  owes  it  to 
himself  and  to  his  country  to  know  somewhat  of  it,  and  I  say  in  solemn 
truth  that  no  man  can  intelligently  express  an  opinion  concerning  the 
dangers  threatening  our  interests  in  the  American  Isthmus,  until  he  has 
studied  this  treaty,  and  all  that  diplomatic  history  which  preceded,  and 
which  has  grown  out  of  it.  But  I  must  tell  you  in  passing,  what  this 
treaty  pledged.  Beginning  with  a  guarantee  that  neither  England  nor 
the  United  States  will  ever  exercise  for  itself  any  exclusive  control 
over  a  Nicaraguan  ship  canal,  it  forbids  the  erection  of  fortifications 
commanding  it,  as  well  as  the  occupation,  colonization,  or  exercise  of 
dominion  over  any  part  of  Central  America.  It  further  excludes  any 
use  of  protection  afforded  by  either  party  to  the  Central  American 
States  for  accomplishing  such  ends,  or  for  securing  commercial  privi- 
leges not  accorded  on  equal  terms  to  the  other.  Immunity  from  block- 
ade or  capture  of  vessels  in  the  canal  in  time  of  war,  is  provided  for, 
although  practically  useless.  Furthermore  these  two  powers  agree  to 
protect  the  canal  from  seizure,  unjust  confiscation,  and  the  like,  when 
begun  by  a  responsible  corporation,  on  "fair  and  equitable  terms." 
This  clause  has  been  fruitful  of  dissension,  but  we  may  be  sure  that  the 
American  interpretation  will  endure  if  we  say  that  it  shall,  and  that 
joint  protection  with  England  will  not  be  allowed.  Next  it  is  affirmed 
that  they  will  use  their  influence  with  the  Central  American 
States  and  peoples,  possessing  or  claiming  to  possess  jurisdiction 
over  the  canal  route,  for  securing  certain  beneficent  regula- 
tions, but  it  will  be  observed  that  here  a  second  time,  an  indirect 
recognition  of  the  independence  and  territorial  pretensions  of  the  Mos- 
quito Coast  is  clearly  made  as  well  as  a  recognition  of  England's  rela- 


212  Report  of  Proceedings 

tion  to  it  as  protector.  It  agreed  further  to  protect  the  canal  and  keep 
it  forever  open  and  free,  a  practical  assumption  of  sovereignty  over 
Nicaragua  herself,  presumably  for  the  good  of  the  world's  commerce ; 
to  secure  treaties  with  the  Central  American  States  for  facilitating  the 
construction  of  the  canal ;  to  seek  an  international  guarantee  of  neu- 
trality of  the  Isthmus,  a  provision  which  our  Department  of  State  has 
stoutly  refused  since  to  abide  by,  owing  to  the  danger  of  foreign  en- 
tanglements. Finally  it  avows  that  not  only  a  special  object  is  sought 
by  the  treaty,  but  the  establishment  of  a  general  principle  of  protection 
and  neutrality  over  all  routes,  by  canal  or  railroad,  which  may  ever  be 
built  across  any  part  of  the  American  Isthmus.  It  is  doubtful  if  such 
an  assumption  of  the  dominance  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  in  the  affairs 
of  this  world  has  ever  gained  expression  in  a  State  paper  before  or 
since.  It  stands  alone,  a  unique  instrument,  affirming  openly  that 
the  reign  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  giants  is  supreme,  that  at  the  bidding  of 
these  United  States  and  of  Great  Britain  the  whole  earth  must  yield  its 
highways  to  their  commerce,  and  that  the  rest  of  mankind  may  enjoy 
equal  privileges  only  through  their  gracious  condescension.  And  yet 
the  spirit  of  this  utterance  is  noble.  Every  nation,  strong  or  weak,  is 
promised  equality  with  those  two  powers  which  are  mighty  enough  to 
compel  the  observance  of  justice.  Commerce  is  to  be  freed  more  and 
more  from  all  restrictions,  and  the  open  highways  of  intercourse  are  to 
be,  not  on  the  sea  alone,  but  by  every  passage,  from  sea  to  sea,  which 
none  may  close  to  the  free  use  of  mankind  under  cover  of  selfish 
sovereign  power.  Such  is  the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty,  a  document  so  full 
of  good  that  we  can  only  wish  it  had  been  more  wisely  drawn,  so  that  it 
should  stand  as  a  new  bill  of  rights  bringing  blessings  to  all  mankind. 
But  it  was  sown  with  seeds  of  discord,  which  nearly  ripened  into  war 
during  the  decade  of  the  fifties,  when  we  may  safely  say  nothing  but 
the  outbreak  of  our  domestic  strife,  prevented  a  clash  of  British  and 
American  arms  over  this  vexed  Isthmian  problem.  Out  of  it  has  grown 
the  Treaty  of  Managua,  whereby  England  to  this  day  retains  the  oppor- 
tunity of  intervention  in  the  affairs  of  the  Mosquito  coast,  which  would 
at  once  involve  a  renewal  of  her  claims  to  control  the  eastern  terminus 
of  the  Nicaragua  Canal.  It  has  even  constituted  part  of  Great  Britain's 
claim  to  recognition  by  our  Government  of  her  encroachments  in  Belize. 
It  has  indeed  seemed  like  a  compact  set  up  for  the  sole  purpose  of  fur- 
nishing pretexts  for  violation  of  its  spirit,  by  a  pretended  fulfillment  of 
its  letter.  It  has  lost  vitality,  and  yet  is  not  dead.  In  some  form  its 
principles  will  be  perpetuated.  We  cannot  ignore  them  ourselves ;  we 
cannot  suffer  others  to  disregard  them.  The  result  of  such  attempts 
would  be  confusion,  and  strife,  and  the  crippling  of  the  progress  of  the 
world. 
It  is  not  the  glorious  Republic  of  the  West,  nor  yet  the  earth-encir- 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  213 

cling  empire  of  Great  Britain,  that  has  determined  the  freedom  and 
neutrality  of  the  passage  to  the  Indies ;  it  is  the  outcome  of  the  needs 
of  humanity,  which  no  power  can  thwart.  It  is  merely  a  circumstance, 
wonderful,  providential,  that  the  power  of  the  dominant  race  on  earth 
should  have  been  politically  divided  at  this  epoch  of  the  history  of  the 
world,  so  that  the  struggle  for  existence  by  the  Anglo-Saxon  nations 
should  spread  the  principles  of  liberty,  and  limit  the  engines  of  progress 
to  doing  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number.  And  so  the  spirit 
of  greed,  or  self-help,  if  you  will,  in  each,  restrains  the  aggrandizing 
tendencies  of  the  other.  We  may  if  we  choose  declare  the  treaty  dead. 
The  logic  of  the  case  is  plain.  We  have  the  compact,  authorized  by 
our  Senate.  No  diplomatic  representative  of  the  government,  no 
Secretary  of  State,  no  President  can  change  it.  Only  the  power  that 
ratified  it  can  alter  a  single  word,  or  grant  a  single  privilege  in  contra- 
vention of  its  articles.  When  General  Cass,  for  the  sake  of  peace, 
allowed  encroachments  in  Belize,  he  overstepped  his  powers ;  when 
Secretary  Fish  and  President  Hayes  declined  to  allow  a  joint  protecto- 
rate, they  refused  to  abide  by  the  solemn  promise  of  our  government. 
England  has  violated  the  treaty,  and  so  have  we.  We  may  declare  it 
void  at  our  pleasure,  and  with  abundant  cause ;  but  likewise  may 
England  do  the  same.  But  it  has  not  been  abrogated.  A  disgraceful, 
crippled  piece  of  diplomatic  rubbish,  it  still  holds  a  place,  dishonored 
by  its  presence,  among  the  honorable  compacts  of  its  sponsors.  And 
while  it  stays  there  it  is  a  menace  to  our  political  safety,  for  upon  this 
famous  treaty  rests  another,  the  Treaty  of  Managua,  craftily  framed  by 
England,  to  secure  a  foothold  near  the  route  of  the  canal,  with  a 
possibility  of  establishing  full  control  in  future.  History  is  making 
this  very  day  and  hour  upon  this  question,  and  it  may  ere  long  out- 
strip all  others  in  importance.  To-day  *  you  have  read  dispatches 
saying  that  Great  Britain  has  sent  a  warship  to  Bluefields,  and  that  she 
refuses  to  recognize  the  sovereignty  of  Nicaragua  over  the  Mosquito 
coast.  What  does  this  mean?  By  what  right  does  England 
interfere  in  this  matter?  Let  us  see!  As  boys  we  have  all  read 
and  wondered  at  the  deeds  of  the  buccaneers  of  old.  I  am  only  reviv- 
ing old  historical  memories  to  tell  you  that  these  ancient  scourges  of  the 
Caribbean  were  organized  under  a  sort  of  republican  government ;  that 
they  even  made  terms  with  respectable  powers ;  that  England  under 
Cromwell  made  an  alliance  with  them  to  capture  the  island  of  Jamaica 
in  1655.  You  also  know  that  these  pirates  made  their  chief  rendezvous 
in  the  lagoons  about  the  famous  Cape  Gracias  a  Dios,  and  were 
harbored  and  fed  there  by  Mosquito  Indians,  whom  the  pirates  in  turn 
corrupted  by  all  the   skill  in  wickedness  known  to  them.     But   you 


November  28,  1894. 


214  Report  of  Proceedings 

may  not  know  that  when  these  miscreants  fled  from  the  south  sea 
over-land  and  came  wasted  and  worn,  forever  crushed,  to  this  same 
Cape  Gracias  a  Dios  in  1688,  England  hastened  to  fasten  her  grip 
upon  this  coast  by  crowning  a  native  chieftain  king,  and  formally 
establishing  a  protectorate  over  him  and  his  dominions.  It  was  not 
because  this  land  was  valuable  in  itself  that  England  wished  it.  You 
should  see  it  to  understand, — you  should  sail  as  I  have  done  day 
after  day  through  a  network  of  channels  between  coral  islands,  or 
back  of  these  through  a  labyrinth  of  lagoons  and  bayous,  and  see 
naught  but  sand  and  jungle,  and  you  would  believe  that  it  was  not  the 
land  that  England  coveted,  but  the  strategic  position,  near  the  ocean 
highways  of  commerce,  near  the  entrance  into  the  richest  portion  of 
Central  America,  with  a  safe  retreat  in  sheltered  harbors  in  a  part  of 
the  world  where  these  are  rare.  It  was  a  foothold  in  the  enemy's 
country,  a  new  advantage  in  her  endless  feud  with  Spain.  Things  ran 
in  this  groove  until  1744,  when  England  sent  a  superintendent  to  govern 
the  Mosquito  Coast.  This  aroused  the  ire  of  Spain  so  that  in  the  treaty 
of  Paris  of  1763  England  was  forced  to  recognize  the  claims  of  Spain, 
and  demolish  all  fortifications  on  the  Mosquito  shore  and  other  parts 
of  Spanish  territory.  Fresh  incursions  followed  in  spite  of  this  treaty  so 
that  a  new  one  was  signed  in  1783  by  which  England  agreed  to 
abandon  the  Spanish  continent.  She  still  held  on  to  theMosquito  Coast, 
claiming  that  it  did  not  belong  to  the  Spanish  continent,  but  to  the 
American  continent,  a  subtlety  extinguished  by  the  supplementary  treaty 
of  1786,  whereby  she  explicitly  renounced  all  dominion  or  control  over 
this  particular  territory.  But  she  still  guided  the  actions  of  the  native 
chiefs,  or  kings,  through  the  medium  of  British  traders.  As  soon,  how- 
ever, as  the  Spanish  colonies  had  cast  off  the  yoke  of  Spain  in  1821, 
England  at  once  crowned  a  Mosquito  half-breed  as  king,  placed  him 
under  her  protection,  and  then  proceeded  to  make  and  unmake  Mos- 
quito "  kings  •'  at  the  rate  of  one  each  year,  until  she  found  a  willing 
and  reliable  puppet.  Such  was  the  political  relation  of  England  to  the 
Mosquito  Coast  as  we  found  it  in  1850.  But  there  is  another  side  also. 
In  the  beginning,  according  to  early  British  writers,  the  Mosquito 
coast  extended  from  Cape  Cameron,  on  the  north  shore  of  what  is 
now  Honduras,  to  Pearl  Lagoon,  thirty  miles  north  of  Bluefields,  and 
90  miles  north  of  Greytown.  Later  the  English  invaded  the  territory 
of  the  Cookra  Indians  to  the  southward,  and  set  up  their  puppet 
king  —  Mosquito  "  ally  "  as  they  called  him — to  rule  at  Bluefields. 
Once  they  sent  Nelson  to  extend  the  Mosquito  territory  to  the  Rio 
San  Juan  del  Norte,  the  route  of  any  future  Nicaragua  Canal,  but 
being  repulsed  they  waited  until  our  war  with  Mexico  had  extended 
our  Pacific  possessions,  and  at  once  they  seized  this  river 
and     its     port     of      Greytown     in     the     name     of     the     Mosquito 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress,  215 

41  king."  There  are  many  here  who  remember  how  we  drove  them  out, 
and  set  up  a  provisional  government  which  endured  until  the  status  of 
this  coast  was  determined  by  the  treaty  of  Managua.  It  had  been  the 
supposition  that  the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty  was  to  terminate  British 
connection  with  the  Mosquito  Indians.  I  am  sorry  to  cast  aspersions 
upon  a  generation  of  American  statesmen  now  passed  away,  but  such  an 
interpretation  can  by  no  possible  subversion  of  plain  English  be  sus- 
tained. England  was  right  in  asserting  that  this  treaty  only  confirmed 
her  in  her  claims  as  protector.  But  at  last  she  pretended  to  yield  to 
our  demands,  and  offered  to  carry  out  our  views  in  a  separate  treaty 
with  Nicaragua,  now  known  as  the  treaty  of  Managua,  signed  in 
1860.  By  this  agreement  she  did  relinquish  the  protectorate  over 
Mosquitio  to  Nicaragua,  setting  apart  a  reservation  for  the  Indians, 
who  were  accorded  the  right  of  local  self-government,  under  the 
nominal  sovereignty  of  Nicaragua,  and  she  recognized  the  complete 
sovereignty  of  Nicaragua  on  certain  conditions,  over  two  strips  of 
coast,  one  north  of  the  reservation,  and  the  other  south  of  it,  extend- 
ing to  and  embracing  the  Rio  San  Juan  del  Norte.  The  condition 
limiting  this  cession  was  that  the  binding  force  of  the  treaty  is 
dependent  upon  the  faithful  observance  of  each  and  all  of  its  articles. 
Once  when  troubles  arose  over  this  convention,  the  matter  was 
referred  to  the  arbitration  of  the  Emperor  (1881),  who  took  pains  to 
emphasize  the  right  of  England  to  interfere  for  the  protection  of  her 
former  ward,  the  Mosquito  Coast.  Consequently  an  infraction  of  this 
treaty  of  Managua  offers  England  an  opportunity  to  abrogate  it, 
and  re-assume  her  old  protectorate.  This  would,  of  course,  revive  the 
conditions  obtaining  anterior  to  the  treaty,  and  although  England  was 
kept  out  of  Greytown  by  force  of  arms,  she  claimed  it  as  part  of  the 
Mosquito  Coast,  and  she  would  so  claim  to-day.  Thus  she  would  be 
in  actual  control  through  a  puppet  king  of  the  very  route  of  the  canal, 
and  she  could  legally  land  troops,  and  blockade  ports,  in  the  effort  to 
maintain  this  control  arrogated  by  her  ward.  And  it  is  with  deep 
chagrin  that  we  must  in  honesty  confess  that  the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty 
gives  her  a  right  to  do  these  things.  So,  we  have  recently  seen  the 
Mosquito  Coast  torn  by  dissensions,  and  invaded  by  Nicaraguan  troops, 
in  violation  of  the  treaty.  England,  however,  was  not  hasty.  The 
time  was  not  ripe.  There  was  still  a  chance  that  our  Congress  might 
pass  a  bill  affecting  the  canal.  Emissaries  of  the  canal  company  were 
in  England  and  it  might  be  that  British  capital  would  invest  in  the 
enterprise,  and  that  she  might  have  an  interest  of  her  own  in  maintain- 
ing the  statu  quo.  Senor  Barrios  was  sent  to  London  by  Nicaragua  to 
negotiate  a  settlement  of  the  Mosquito  question.  He  was  kept  wait- 
ing. Six  weeks  ago,  even,  he  had  not  succeeded  in  gaining  an  audience 
with  Lord  Kimberly.     Now,    all   at   once,   a  British  warship  goes  to 


216  Report  of  Proceedings 

Bluefields,  and  we  learn  that  the  mission  of  Senor  Barrios  has  failed. 
Interpret  this  as  you  please,  but  I  tell  you  there  is  danger  ahead, 
danger  for  you,  and  hardship  for  your  children  and  grandchildren,  and 
disgrace  for  your  country,  unless  our  government  firmly  and  unflinch- 
ingly exercises  that  right  to  dictate  how  the  political  status  of  the 
Isthmus  shall  be  determined,  which  it  has  always  assumed,  and  which 
has  always,  with  more  or  less  grumbling,  been  accorded  by  the  European 
powers. 

It  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  even  touch  upon  that  group  of  treaties, 
some  now  abrogated,  others  unratified,  and  others  still  very  materially 
affecting  the  future  of  this  enterprise,  such  as  the  Dickinson-Ayon 
treaty,  and  the  treaties  between  Nicaragua  on  the  one  hand  and  Costa 
Rica  on  the  other,  with  all  the  great  foreign  powers,  each  of  which 
contains  articles  relating  to  a  future  canal.  Neither  have  I  time  to 
explain  the  canal  concessions,  but  you  will  find  them  liberal  to  capital, 
restricting  the  ownership  of  the  canal  to  a  private  corporation,  which, 
however,  does  not  preclude  government  ownership  of  canal  stock  or 
bonds,  and  you  will  find  the  conditions  of  forfeiture  of  the  concessions 
clearly  stated,  and  fully  in  accord  with  common  principles  of  equity  and 
justice.  But  I  must  impress  upon  you  the  fact  that  these  concessions 
do  not  require  the  company  to  be  an  American  company,  but  it  may 
be  organized  anywhere,  or  transfer  its  allegiance  by  reorganization 
elsewhere  at  will.  The  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  has,  it 
is  true,  been  chartered  by  our  Congress,  which  charter  does  indeed 
require  that  the  company's  office  shall  be  in  New  York,  and  that  its 
President,  Vice-Presidents,  and  a  majority  of  its  directors,  shall  be 
citizens  and  residents  of  the  United  States,  but  there  is  nothing  to  pre- 
clude the  leasing  of  the  rights  under  the  concessions,  or  of  the  com- 
pleted canal,  to  foreign  capitalists,  so  that  our  control  is  not  established 
beyond  chance  of  loss.  Would  our  people  suffer  this?  Would  they 
calmly  witness  such  a  sacrifice  of  privileges  for  which  they  have  con- 
tended these  fifty  years?  And  yet  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  is 
struggling  to-day  against  an  apathy  which  confounds  our  wise  economists 
and  financiers,  and  each  day  it  is  coming  into  narrower  and  more  dan- 
gerous straits.  Money  it  must  have,  but  where  shall  it  turn  to  find  \t> 
We  know  that  bills  have  been  introduced  into  Congress  to  provide  for  a 
guarantee  of  the  Canal  Company's  bonds  by  the  government  to  the 
amount  of  $100,000,000.  There  is  no  legal  objection  to  it.  It  would 
involve  no  transfer  of  concessions.  The  government  would  merely 
acquire  the  rights  of  a  mortgagee,  if  it  were  forced  to  redeem  these 
bonds,  and  it  would  of  course  exercise  at  all  times  a  closer  supervision 
over  the  company  than  now  through  the  control  of  a  majority  of  the 
company's  stock,  held  as  security  for  the  guarantee,  and  giving  the 
government  the  choice  of  ten  directors  out  of  fifteen.     It  must  be  ob- 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  217 

served,  moreover,  that  there  is  a  distinct  difference  between  such  bonds 
and  those  which  governments  usually  issue  upon  the  national  credit 
merely.  This  guarantee  would  make  them  practically  government  obli- 
gations ;  the  honor  of  the  nation  would  be  pledged  to  their  payment ;  but 
there  would  be  a  material  basis  beneath  them  ;  an  actual  property  which 
would  have  become  a  source  of  enormous  revenue  before  these  bonds 
would  mature.  The  canal  itself  will  re-imburse  the  national  treasury 
for  any  outlay  on  this  account.  This  is  no  dreamer's  vision.  A  ton- 
nage of  fully  8,000,000*  tons  per  annum  goes  to-day  from  European 
ports,  and  the  Atlantic  ports  of  the  United  States,  to  destinations  in 
the  Pacific  Ocean  not  reached  so  easily  via  Suez  as  by  way  of  Nicar- 
agua. By  far,  the  larger  part  of  this  vast  trade  is  carried  on  directly 
between  Europe  and  the  Pacific.  Without  exception  this  whole 
enormous  tonnage  would  perforce  pass  through  the  Nicaragua  Canal, 
because  it  would  be  the  cheaper  route.  The  average  distance  saved 
by  the  canal  for  the  whole  of  this  tonnage  would  be  fully  6,000  miles. 
The  greatest  distance  saved  by  the  Suez  Canal  is  4,480  miles.  The 
tolls  on  the  Suez  Canal  are  $1.80  a  registered  ton.  It  is  proposed  to 
charge  $2.00  a  ton  for  the  use  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal, —  only  20  cents 
more  than  at  Suez  for  an  added  advantage  in  distance  saved  of  nearly 
2,000  miles.  On  the  basis  of  existing  commerce  only,  disregarding 
any  increase  as  a  result  of  canal  facilities,  disregarding  also  the 
inevitable  development  of  trade  between  our  own  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
coasts,  this  would  yield  a  gross  revenue  of  $16,000,000  per  annum. 
The  cost  of  maintaining  and  operating  the  canal,  deduced  from 
experience  at  Suez  and  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  has  been  estimated  at 
$1,250,000  a  year;  but  suppose  it  were  as  much  as  $3,000,000!  This 
would  leave  a  net  income  of  $13,000,000,  or  more  than  6  per  cent, 
upon  a  capital  of  $200,000,000.  Should  the  United  States  guarantee 
bonds  to  the  amount  even  of  $200,000,000,  the  interest  at  3J  per  cent 
would  be  $7,000,000,  leaving  a  surplus  of  $6,000,000,  which  would 
suffice  to  extinguish  the  debt  in  33  years,  not  including  interest  on  this 
sinking  fund.  In  other  words,  if  the  bonds  were  to  mature  in  40  years, 
before  that  time  the  canal  would  have  more  than  paid  the  principal  and 
interest  of  the  bonds, —  even  if  commerce  does  not  grow.  To  issue 
these  bonds  is  indeed  in  a  certain  way  discounting  the  future,  but  it 
is  also  laying  tribute  upon  the  commerce  of  the  world,  and  adding  just 
that  much  to  the  aggregate  wealth  of  the  United  States.  Whoever 
buys  a  bond  will  receive  interest  and  principal  out  of  funds  which 
in  the  end  are  derived  from  all  nations  whose  commerce  is  aided  by 


4  Recent  estimates  by  Elmer  L.  Corthell  place  the  registered  tonnage  now 
(  ready  to  use  a  trans-isthmian  route  at  6,493,000  tons,  equal  to  a  cargo  tonnage 
(    of  9,650,000  tons.^ 


218      .  Report  of  Proceedings 

this  waterway.  The  question  then  is  one  of  simple  expediency. 
But  if  the  people  will  not  sustain  this  undertaking,  if  the  government  re- 
pulses it,  then  the  company  is  doomed  to  pass  into  alien  hands.  Foreign 
capital  will  not  freely  flow  into  a  company  organized  to  do  a  work  of  an 
international  character,  while  it  is  confined  to  American  management, 
but  as  soon  as  the  foreign  capital  exceeds  that  invested  by  Americans 
we  will  see  the  company  forced  to  surrender  its  American  charter  and 
organize  abroad,  and  this  means  practical  political  control  to  protect 
the  investment,  just  as  has  transpired  at  Suez.  You  will  remember  that 
I  said  it  might  be  fortunate  that  our  people  had  not  rallied  sooner  to 
the  building  of  this  canal.  I  have  become  impressed  with  a  firm  belief 
that  they  were  wiser  than  they  knew.  Scarcely  will  you  find  a  man  or 
woman  in  the  land  whose  patriotic  interest  is  not  awakened  by  the  very 
mention  of  the  name  Nicaragua.  It  suggests  to  each  a  personal  duty 
as  a  loyal  citizen.  But  press  this  duty  as  one  demanding  instant  action, 
and  what  do  you  find?  A  multitude  of  vague  doubts  and  fears!  The 
spectre  of  Panama  frightens  the  timid  ones  away ;  the  hopeless  fog  of 
the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty,  whose  thick  darkness  so  few  have 
penetrated,  but  which  has  obscured  for  tens  of  thousands  any  clear 
vision  of  our  rights  in  Central  America,  restrains  the  prudent  ones, 
fearful  lest  it  should  involve  that  dreaded  evil,  a  vigorous  foreign  policy. 
They  fear  to  offer  encouragement  to  a  company  which  may  lead  to  inter- 
national entanglements.  Furthermore,  a  great  corporation's  business  is 
nobody's  business,  so  far  as  the  average  stockholder  is  concerned.  The 
small  investor  is  like  the  sand  which  the  great  winds  drift  into  helpless 
heaps.  He  wields  no  power  ;  the  man  at  the  helm  heeds  him  not.  The 
great  ones  do  as  they  please.  And  when  the  corporation,  like  this  one, 
may  come  at  last  before  the  erratic  courts  of  international  law,  the  plain, 
logical  layman's  mind  recoils  from  it  as  a  dangerous,  uncertain  thing. 
Who  will  protect  his  interests  in  the  company  ?  Even  though  rascals 
might  hold  the  keys  of  the  money  chest,  who  will  promise  that  they  be 
safely  jailed?  If  diplomatic  quarrels  should  threaten,  who  will  guaran- 
tee that  the  government  will  not  compromise  to  their  financial  damage 
in  the  interests  of  peace?  A  government  is  for  the  protection  of  the 
nation.  It  is  the  creature  of  the  people,  and  public  opinion  will  not 
often  permit  it  to  plunge  them  into  a  disastrous  war  for  the  protection 
of  a  private  corporation  even  though  it  be  of  great  national  importance. 
But  if  the  government  should  assume  the  burden  of  responsibility,  then 
it  becomes  a  national  affair,  sustained  in  the  interests  of  all,  involving 
the  national  honor.  The  rascals  can  be  impeached,  or  voted  out  of 
office  at  the  next  election ;  if  foreign  powers  intrigue  against  the  enter- 
prise the  force  of  the  whole  people  will  stand  as  a  unit  to  preserve  our 
rights, —  a  tremendous  force  which  no  nation  on  earth  would  risk  a  trial 
with. 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  219 

There  is  no  plan  so  certain  to  insure  a  speedy  building  of  tbe  canal  as 
this,  nor  any  which  will  so  surely  prevent  a  renewal  of  diplomatic  en- 
tanglements over  Central  America.  With  a  treaty  still  in  force  which 
has  been  openly  violated  ;  disgracefully  contorted,  until  its  whole  fabric 
is  a  mass  of  wretched  shreds ;  with  another  treaty  threatening  the 
security  of  the  canal  concessions ;  with  other  treaties  guaranteeing  that 
neutrality  and  protection  which  we  claim  as  our  exclusive  right  to 
guarantee ;  it  was  only  the  part  of  wisdom  for  our  people  to  withhold 
their  enthusiastic  furtherance  of  the  enterprise  until  it  should  rest 
securely  upon  the  moral  support  of  the  whole  American  nation,  of  every 
party,  from  ocean  to  ocean.  This  is  only  possible  when  the  canal  is 
identified  with  the  government  itself  so  that  its  future  shall  be  free  from 
all  uncertainties  and  doubts.  Then  the  resources  and  energy  of 
America  will  carry  it  to  completion. 

But  can  we  afford  delays ;  can  we  longer  afford  to  remain  indifferent 
to  this  enterprise?  What  would  America  say  if  her  right  to  navigate 
the  northern  lakes  were  taken  away ;  if  any  one  proposed  to  close  the 
Sault  Ste.  Marie  Canal  through  which  passes  a  larger  annual  tonnage 
than  uses  Suez?  Would  you  suffer  a  reduction  of  one-fifth  of  the  total 
commerce  of  America?  And  yet  that  is  exactly  what  would  happen 
if  the  Great  Lakes  were  barred  against  us,  and  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie 
Canal  were  closed.  Twenty-two  per  cent  of  the  whole  freight  move- 
ment in  the  United  States  is  borne  upon  those  northern  channels.  The 
total  foreign  commerce  of  our  country  is  27,000,000  tons  per  annum. 
The  freight  carried  on  the  Great  Lakes  alone  exceeds  that  amount  by 
half  a  million  tons.  And  it  is  not  only  the  lake  region  that  is 
benefited  by  this  waterway.  There  is  an  immense  outlying  zone  of 
attraction.  The  influence  of  lower  rates  reaches  just  so  far  as 
freight  might  find  a  cheaper  route  by  part  rail  and  part  water  than  by 
rail  alone.  And  so  we  witnessed  in  Dakota  an  increase  in  the  value  of 
wheat  to  the  farmer  of  seven  cents  per  busbel  and  a  decrease  in  the 
cost  of  coal  of  $2  per  ton  as  soon  as  rail  communication  with  Lake 
Superior  was  obtained.  ^Herein  lies  the  advantage  of  a  waterway :  it 
lowers  freight  rates ;  it  regulates  freight  rates  ;  it  increases  the  possi- 
bility of  production  at  a  profit;  it  permits  the  introduction  of  goods  from 
other  parts ;  it  opens  up  new  fields  of  industry  which  high  rates  would 
keep  forever  closed.)  The  cost  of  water  transportation  is  so  very  small 
that  an  increase  of  several  thousand  miles  may  be  easily  offset  by  lower 
rates.  The  merchant,  the  farmer,  confronts  here  no  abstruse  problem. 
Suppose  you  are  located  800  miles  east  of  San  Francisco.  You  wish  to 
ship  the  produce  of  your  farm  or  mine  to  New  York  City.  At  nine- 
tenths  of  a  cent  per  ton  per  mile  this  will  cost  you  $19.80  per  ton.  If 
the  Nicaragua  Canal  were  open,  and  j7ou  should  ship  by  way  of  San 
Francisco  and  this  water  route,  your  ton  of  cargo  would  cost  $7.20  to  the 


I 


220  Report  of  Proceedings 

Pacific  coast,  and  thence  to  New  York,  at  two-tenths  of  a  cent  per  ton 
per  mile,  $9.81,  making  a  total  of  $17.01  per  ton.  You  would  save  $2.79 
in  spite  of  the  immense  distance  of  5,700  miles,  and  very  naturally  you 
would  ship  by  wav  of  the  canal.  These  rates  are  not  merely  assumed 
for  illustration.  /The  average  freight  rate  of  all  the  railroads  of  the 
United  States  is  .941  c.  per  ton  per  mile,  a  little  more  than  I  assumed. 
The  average  rate  by  water  on  the  Great  Lakes  is  .135  c.  per  ton  per 
milejor  48  per  cent  less  than  the  figures  used  in  the  illustration.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  the  average  charges  of  the  railroads  west  of  the  Great 
Lakes,  outside  of  their  zone  of  attraction,  in  that  region  of  which  80' 
per  cent  would  be  influenced  directly  by  the  Nicaragua  Canal,  is  con- 
siderably over  one  cent  per  ton  per  mile,  while  the  charges  of  the  four 
great  lines  which  come  within  the  zone  of  water  competition  to  the  East 
are  less  than  three-fourths  of  a  cent  per  ton  per  mile,  the  difference  in- 
freight  rates  between  the  East  and  the  West  being  actually  over  30  per 
cent.  The  building  of  the  canal  will  force  down  rates  throughout  the 
whole  western  portion  of  the  United  States./'lt  would  be  cheaper  to 
ship  goods  from  St.  Louis  to  New  York  and  tffence  by  the  canal  to  San 
Francisco  than  to  ship  direct  by  rail  at  the  existing  average  rate,  and 
vastly  cheaper  to  ship  via  New  Orleans.)  If  one  should  attempt  to 
calculate  the  increased  production  of  tne  farm  and  mine,  the  aug- 
mented exchange  of  merchandise,  the  enlarged  market  for  our  manu- 
factures, that  will  follow  the  building  of  this  canal,  we  would  be  no 
better  able  to  represent  the  vast  figure  to  our  minds  than  we  are  to  fully 
comprehend  the  significance  in  added  wealth  and  in  brighter  horizons  on 
the  sea  of  life  for  each  and  every  one  of  us  which  lies  in  the  fact  that 
the  freight  carried  on  the  Great  Lakes  in  1889  was  22,517,000,000  ton 
miles.  We  can  no  more  grasp  such  figures  than  we  can  comprehend 
the  distance  to  the  stars,  but  they  mean  that  millions  of  men  are 
sending  cheaply  to  the  markets  of  the  world  the  product  of 
their  toil,  which  otherwise  they  could  not  send  at  all;  that  they 
are  building  happy  homes  through  a  thousand  blooming  valleys 
which  otherwise  would  still  remain  a  desert,  the  haunts  of 
wild  beasts  and  savage  Indians.  I  think  you  will  agree  with  me 
that  it  is  poor  economy  to  wait;  that  we  cannot  afford  to  wait; 
and  yet,  my  friends,  those  whom  we  have  sent  to  Washington  to  provide 
for  our  welfare  and  our  national  growth,  year  after  year  have  trifled 
with  this  question,  have  prepared  voluminous  reports  upon  it,  but  have 
done  nothing.  Our  late  Congress,  after  a  disgraceful  wrangle  over  the 
tariff,  adjourned  without  attempting  even  to  partly  redeem  itself  by 
passing  an  act  in  favor  of  this  canal.  Meanwhile  agents  of  the  canal 
company  went  to  Europe  seeking  capital,  and  we  now  hear  that  some 
measure  of  success  has  crowned  their  efforts;  that  the  canal  is  in  the 
way  of  being  lost  to  us  forever!     Lost!  unless  we  can  at  this  coming 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  '221 

session  persuade  Congress  to  do  its  duty  ;  or  in  the  end  fight  to  regain  it. 
That  which  we  might  have  had  by  merely  laying  tribute  on  the  com- 
merce of  the  future,  would  in  such  case,  cost  us  millions  of  dollars,  and 
thousands  of  human  lives.  Do  you  say  we  need  not  fight  ?  That  we 
may  simply  suffer  England  to  own  it?  Well,  then,  are  you  prepared  to 
have  your  intercourse  with  the  great  West  checked  ;  to  have  your  ships 
placed  under  disadvantages  forever ;  to  have  England  menace  you  on 
the  south  as  well  as  hem  you  in  on  the  north,  and  threaten  you  from 
bristling  islands  on  the  east  and  west?  Has  it  never  occurred  to  you 
that  the  Anglo-Saxon  giants  are  dividing  the  power  of  the  world  between 
them,  and  that,  call  it  by  what  name  you  choose,  one  will  in  the  end  be 
the  commercial  vassal  of  the  other? /^.Do  not  Halifax,  and  Bermuda, 
and  Jamaica,  and  Esquimault,  signify  anything  to  you  ?}  And  then,  when 
you  look  into  all  those  cannon  mouths  pointing  grimly  at  you,  are  you 
willing  to  have  other  cannon  mouths  yawning  upon  every  ship  of  yours 
that  sails  the  southern  seas?  Can  you  not  perceive  that  to  protect  our 
growing  commerce  we  would  then  need  a  navy  that  would  overawe  the 
greatest  maritime  power  the  world  has  ever  seen,  and  that  we  would  need 
to  enter  into  treaties  with  European  nations  to  help  us  guarantee  the 
neutrality  of  this  waterway,  and  that  in  consequence  our  political  heart 
would  beat  in  unison  with  theirs,  and  that  their  troubles  would  become 
our  troubles?  Where,  then,  would  be  that  isolated  security  which 
has  been  our  boast  and  our  blessing?  Shall  we  lay  up  tribulation  for 
the  future  by  letting  the  Nicaragua  Canal  slip  from  us  now?  If  you 
have  a  voice,  raise  it  in  protest.  Use  whatever  influence  you  have,  as 
individuals,  or  collectively,  to  make  Congress  know  your  sentiments  and 
to  compel,  if  possible,  that  something  be  done  while  it  is  yet  time.  It 
is  not  that  we  are  jealous  of  England,  nor  that  we  are  seeking  aggran- 
dizement as  a  nation,  that  we  want  this  canal,  but  because  we  must  guard 
against  dangers  and  disaster.  We  ask  not  that  the  stars  and  stripes 
shall  wave  over  any  ramparts  in  Nicaragua,  but  that  the  spirit  of 
American  freedom  shall  brood  over  this  waterway,  guaranteeing  its 
peaceful  use  to  all  the  world  (applause). 

Mr.  H.  R.  Whitmore  then  read  the  following  paper,  prepared  by 

CAPT.  W.  L.  MERRY,  OF  SAN   FRANCISCO,  ON  THE  NICARAGUA   CANAL. 

A  Convention  meeting  annually  cannot  expect  to  fully  understand 
the  many  questions  of  policy,  international  obligations,  concessionary 
rights  by  Government  charters  from  three  sovereign  powers,  and  other 
equally  important  questions  connected  with  the  construction  of  the 
Nicaragua  Canal.  But  some  salient  points  can  be  profitably  alluded 
to,  as  a  very  inadequate  substitution  for  the  months,  aye,  years  of  time 


222  Report  of  Proceedings 

devoted  to  these  questions  by  Congress,  notably  by  the  United  States 
Senate  in  Executive  Session,  and  by  the  Executive  Cabinet. 

1st.  The  present  conditions  absolutely  necessitate  construction  by  a 
Company.  The  administration  of  President  Arthur  negotiated  with 
the  Republic  of  Nicaragua  in  1884  a  treaty  for  the  construction 
of  the  canal  by  the  United  States  Government  direct,  with  certain  con- 
ditions: The  United  States  was  to  have  a  joint  sovereignty  with 
Nicaragua  over  two  and  one  half  miles  on  each  side  of  the  canal ;  to 
fortify  its  terminals,  to  occupy  with  military  forces  jointly  with  Nica- 
ragua, and  to  form  a  treaty  of  perpetual  alliance  with  that  Republic ; 
also  a  loan  of  $4,000,000  gold  was  to  be  made  to  Nicaragua.  This 
Zavalla-Frelinghuysen  Treaty  (so  called)  was  ratified  by  the  Nicaragua 
Senate,  and  was  before  our  Senate  when  President  Cleveland  took 
his  seat  on  his  first  inauguration.  He  at  once  withdrew  it  from  the 
Senate,  and  in  declining  to  return  it  expressed  himself  thus: — 

"  Maintaining,  as  I  do,  the  tenets  of  a  line  of  presidents  from  Washington's 
day,  which  proscribe  entangling  alliances  with  foreign  States,  I  do  not  favor 
the  policy.  *  *  *  Therefore,  I  am  unable  to  recommend  a  proposition  in- 
volving paramount  privileges  of  ownership  or  right  outside  of  our  own  country, 
when  coupled  with  absolute  and  unlimited  engagements  to  defend  the  territorial 
integrity  of  the  State  where  such  interests  lie.  *  *  *  While  the  general 
project  of  connecting  the  two  oceans  by  means  of  a  canal  is  to  be  encouraged, 
I  am  of  opinion  that  any  scheme  to  that  end,  to  be  considered  with  favor, 
should  be  free  from  the  features  alluded  to." 

Mr.  Cleveland's  opinion  is  known  to  be  unchanged  and  while 
he  is  President  such  a  treaty  cannot  receive  his  approval,  even 
if  Nicaragua  would  again  run  the  risk  of  a  diplomatic  rebuff, 
which  is  doubtful,  especially  as  European  influences  are  adverse 
to  such  action.  Mr.  Cleveland  does  not  directly  allude  to  the 
Clayton- Bulwer  Treaty  with  Great  Britain,  ratified  in  1850 ;  but 
he  probably  had  it  in  mind,  as  the  said  treaty  explicitly  states 
that,  whenever  a  canal  or  other  method  of  communication  be- 
tween the  oceans,  in  Nicaragua,  Panama,  or  any  part  of  Central 
America,  is  built,  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  shall  have  exact 
and  equal  rights  and  control  therein.  The  Zavalla-Frelinghuysen  Treaty 
was  a  direct  violation  of  the  Clayton-Bulwer  Convention,  and  would 
become  possibly  one  of  the  "  entanglements  "  alluded  to.  It  is  true 
that  Blaine  and  Freylinghuysen  claimed,  in  correspondence  with  Lord 
Granville,  the  British  Foreign  Minister,  that  Great  Britain  had  herself 
violated  the  "  quid  pro  quo"  in  the  C^ton-Bulwer  Treaty,  and  that 
consequently  we  were  no  longer  bound  thereby.  But  the  fact  remains 
that  it  has  not  been  abrogated,  and  it  is  idle  to  ignore  it  by  spread- 
eagle  American  talk.  Now,  the  Panama  Railroad  was  completed  in 
1856,  six  years  after  the  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty,  by  an  American  cor- 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  223 

poration,  and  our  Government  was  bound  by  treaty  with  New 
Grenada  (now  the  U.  S.  of  Colombia)  to  defend  and  protect  it,  which 
it  has  done  by  repeated  landing  of  armed  forces,  and  Great  Britain  has 
never  complained  of  any  violation  of  the  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty  in 
consequence.  We  have  a  right  to  conclude  that  the  Nicaragua 
Canal  constructed  in  the  same  manner,  will  not  be  objected 
to  by  England,  and  thus  the  entanglements  to  which  Mr. 
Cleveland  alludes  will,  in  this  particular,  be  avoided.  I 
have  made  it  plain  why  Mr.  Cleveland's  policy  demands  a 
canal  constructed,  as  at  Panama,  by  an  American  company.  But  the 
U.  S.  can  absolutely  control  that  company  and  its  revenues  by  fixing  y*^ 
the  conditions  of  government,  and  this  the  Senate  and  House  bills  both 
do,  although  the  latter  —  commonly  known  as  the  "Geary  bill"  —  is 
not  as  liberal  as  the  Senate  bill,  and  does  not  even  pay  back  fully  the 
pioneer  investors,  if  interest  is  considered.  But  that  the  American 
people  demand  complete  government  control  is  a  certainty,  and  no 
good  citizen  objects  to  it.  I  think  I  have  proven  that  a  vote  for  con- 
struction at  this  time,  "  without  the  intervention  of  a  company,' '  is  a 
vote  against  the  canal  during  the  present  term  of  Mr.  Cleveland,  and 
probably  much  longer,  for  another  Zavalla-Frelinghuysen  treaty  may 
not  be  feasible  at  this  time. 

2d.  Delay  in  the  matter  is  dangerous  to  American  control.  European 
influences  are  at  work  to  deprive  us  of  it,  and  if  we  wait  until  Mr.  Cleve- 
land's term  expires,  we  shall  probably  have  lost  control  (which  can 
now  be  had  free),  and  may  either  have  to  buy  it  at  an  exhorbitant  price, 
or,  worse  still,  have  to  fight  for  it  against  a  nation  with  naval  forces 
much  greater  than  ours. 

I  presume  that  no  intelligent  and  patriotic  American  will  favor  the 
idea  of  foreign  control  over  the  canal  except  so  far  as  it  may  be  per- 
mitted by  the  Nicaraguan  government,  in  a  friendly  way.  The  strat- 
egetic  and  political  importance  of  American  control  has  been  demon- 
strated by  many  occurrences  known  to  students  of  American  history. 

3d.  We  have  not  yet  considered  construction  by  the  American  Com- 
pany without  Government  aid  or  control,  and  unavoidably  with  European 
capital,  largely.  The  capital  that  builds  the  canal  will  control  the 
interests  of  the  country  through  which  it  passes,  to  a  great  extent. 
European  capital  will  promote  European  commerce,  and  employ  largely 
Europeans  in  the  administration.  Such  conditions  will  greatly  weaken 
our  national  prestige,  while  such  construction  will  unavoidably  make 
the  canal  cost  much  more  by  reason  of  interest  during  construction, 
discount  on  securities  to  be  sold,  and  banker's  commissions.  On  this 
increased  cost,  American  commerce  must  largely  pay  an  increased  toll 
to  make  profits  for  the  investors. 

I  have  endeavored  to  prove  that,  under  present  conditions,  the  bills 


224  Report  of  Proceedings 

now  before  Congress,  with  such  amendments  as  the  wisdom  of  Congress 
may  suggest,  offer  the  only  practicable  method  of  construction ;  that 
opposition  thereto  must  either  come  from  misguided  friends  or  from 
concealed  enemies  of  the  beneficent  work.  Private  interests  do  not 
affect  my  views.  I  have  initiated  the  commercial  support  of  the  Nic- 
aragua Canal  on  the  Pacific  coasvjointly  with  Hon.  Warner  Miller, 
,  Admiral  Ammen,  T.  L.  Phelps,  and  a  small  number  of  patriotic  Amer- 
icans, throughout  the  United  States.  I  want  to  live  to  go  through  the 
canal  when  completed  and  I  respectfully  present  the  conditions  to  the 
Trans-Mississippi  Congress  in  the  interest  of  truth  and  of  our  country. 

I  desire  to  refer  briefly  to 

The  benefit  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  to  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The 
Nicaragua  Canal  will  open  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  the  Gulf  States,  and 
create  new  markets  for  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  products  of  India, 
China  and  Japan  will  reach  there  direct  through  the  canal,  and  find 
distribution  up  the  valley  and  in  the  Gulf  States,  competing  with  the 
distribution  of  the  same  products  eastward  from  the  Pacific  Coast. 

Japan  and  China  are  now  large  consumers  of  cotton ;  the  former 
especially,  having  greatly  increased  her  manufacturing  capacity  in 
cotton  fabrics  during  the  last  few  years.  What  American  cotton  Japan 
now  receives  is  mostly  shipped  via  New  York,  the  Canadian  Pacific, 
and  the  English  line  of  steamships  across  the  Pacific,  connecting 
therewith  —  of  course  at  comparatively  high  freights.  This  trade 
would  furnish  the  return  cargoes  from  the  Gulf  ports  to  China  and 
Japan,  through  the  canal.  In  fact,  it  is  not  possible  to  correctly  pre- 
dict the  volume  of  this  trade,  which  promises  a  new  market  for  the 
cotton  of  the  South. 

The  trade  of  Australia,  New  Zealand,  the  Hawaiian  Republic  and  the 
islands  of  the  Pacific  would  also  be  largely  developed  with  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley ;  — a  growing  commerce,  to  which  no  limit  can  be  set,  and 
largely  with  English-speaking  communities. 

The  commerce  of  the  west  coasts  of  Central  and  South  America  will 
also  be  largely  drawn  to  Gulf  ports  of  the  United  States,  and  St.  Louis 
will  be  as  accessible  to  the  South  American  west  coast  as  is  San 
Francisco. 

The  Nicaragua  Canal  will,  in  fact,  open  a  new  world  of  commerce  to 
the  Gulf  States  of  our  Union  and  to  the  great  Mississippi  Valley ;  a 
commerce  now  in  its  infancy,  largely  with  nations  constantly  increasing 
in  population  and  inhabiting  regions  unsurpassed  in  fertility  and  natural 
resources.  The  Southern  States  are  powerful  factors  in  legislation  at 
Washington,  and  the  Pacific  States  and  Territories  have  good  reason  to 
ask  their  aid  in  obtaining  the  necessary  legislation  which  will  secure 
u  An  American  canal  under  American  control."  Jointly,  the  two 
sections  should  be  able  to  do  this  alone,  but,  with  no  portion  of  the 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  225 

Union  adverse  to  the  beneficent  project,  which  will  so  greatly  stimulate 
the  commerce  and  industries  of  our  country,  legislation  should  be 
assured  at  the  approaching  session  of  Congress.  For  this  reason  I 
sincerely  hope  the  Trans-Mississippi  Congress  will  add  its  urgent 
demand  to  that  of  the  Great  West  for  prompt  action  on  the  Nicaragua 
Canal,  under  control  of  our  Government  and  primarily  for  the  benefit 
of  our  people  (applause). 

Mr.  Whitmore  also  read  the  following  by 

PROF.    SYLVESTER  WATERHOUSE,    OF    WASHINGTON   UNIVERSITY, 
ON  THE  NICARAGUA  CANAL. 

Mr.  President  and  Members  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial 
Congress :  The  commerce  of  the  world  impatiently  demands  the  con- 
struction of  the  Nicaragua  Canal. 

Trade  is  intolerant  of  obstructions.  Everywhere  enterprise  is  seek- 
ing shorter  channels  of  communication.  The  recently  proposed  canals 
from  Bordeaux  to  the  Mediterranean,  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  across 
northern  Florida  to  the  Atlantic,  from  the  Chesapeake  Bay  to  Delaware 
Bay,  from  Buzzard's  Bay  to  Cape  Cod  Bay,  from  Lake  Ontario  to 
Georgian  Bay,  from  St.  Paul  to  Lake  Superior,  from  Lake  Erie  to  the 
Ohio,  from  Michigan  City  across  Indiana  and  Ohio  to  Toledo,  from 
Chicago  to  the  Mississippi,  and  from  Puget  Sound  to  Lake  Washington 
show  the  aggressive  activity  with  which  commerce  and  public  safety  are 
searching  for  more  direct  lines  of  intercourse.  One  of  these  canals  is 
now  in  process  of  excavation.  There  is  every  probability  that  two 
others  will  be  constructed.  The  rest  may  never  be  built,  but  the  very 
conception  of  these  schemes  ©f  internal  improvement  indicates  the 
alertness  with  which  every  means  of  securing  mercantile  ascendency  is 
now  explored.  The  waterways  lately  completed  from  the  Gulf 
of  Aegina  to  the  Gulf  of  Corinth  —  from  the  Elbe  to  the 
Baltic  —  and  from  Manchester  to  the  Mersey,  will  not  mate- 
rially change  the  channels  of  trade.  The  greatest  saving  in  distance 
which  any  one  of  them  effects  is  less  than  700  miles.  For  compara- 
tively small  and  almost  exclusively  local  advantages,  Germany  and 
England  spent  upon  these  water-courses  sums  nearly  equal  to  the  esti- 
mated cost  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal.  The  short  channel  across  the 
Isthmus  of  Corinth  was  not  so  expensive,  but  its  construction  imposed 
upon  the  limited  resources  of  Greece  a  burden  relatively  greater  than 
those  which  the  opulent  builders  of  the  Baltic  and  Manchester  canals 
had  to  bear.  But  the  benefits  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  would  be  world- 
wide. A  waterway  across  Nicaragua  would  wholly  change  the  course 
of  trade  between  our  eastern  States  and  all  the  lands  that  border  on  the 


226  Report  of  Proceedings 

Pacific.  It  would  also  largely  divert  the  commerce  between  Europe 
and  the  Orient  from  its  present  channels.  It  would  save  in  a  voyage 
from  New  York  to  San  Francisco  a  greater  distance  than  the  entire 
width  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  from  the  Golden  Gate  to  Shanghai.  Though 
the  Nicaragua  Canal  would  promote  the  prosperity  of  all  mankind,  the 
United  States  would  be  its  chief  beneficiary.  While  Europeans  are 
spending  scores  of  millions  upon  improvements  of  minor  utility,  will 
the  richest  people  on  the  globe  decline  to  build  a  work  of  incalculable 
importance  to  their  own  safety  and  prosperity?  '  Are  the  subjects  of 
monarchies  quicker  than  the  freemen  of  a  democracy  to  foresee  and 
adopt  the  means  of  self -improvement  ?  Beyond  all  other  forms  of 
polity,  republics  profess  to  care  for  the  interests  of  their  members. 
Shall  the  empires  of  the  old  world  be  permitted  to  surpass  the  repub- 
lics of  the  new  in  an  intelligent  provision  for  the  well-being  of  their 
citizens  ? 

But  it  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  address  to  restate  the  arguments 
in  favor  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal.  Its  powerful  aid  as  a  means  of  naval 
defense  and  as  a  safeguard  of  our  Pacific  coast,  its  diversion  of  Ori- 
ental commerce  from  foreign  shores  to  our  own,  its  economy  of  time, 
distance,  freights,  insurance,  and  exposure  to  marine  losses,  its  general 
promotion  of  American  prosperity  and  its  special  development  of  the 
resources  of  our  Pacific  States,  its  speedy  appreciation  of  the  products 
of  our  western  frontier  to  values  greater  than  the  cost  of  the  canal,  its 
freedom  from  ice  blockades  and  uninterrupted  availability  at  all  seasons 
of  the  year,  its  efficacy  in  binding  the  States  of  our  Union  in  a  still 
stronger  alliance  of  mutual  interests,  its  active  advancement  of  the 
commerce  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  the  advantages  which  shorter  lines 
of  communication  would  give  to  the  United  States  in  its  commerce 
with  Pacific  and  Oriental  lands,  the  facUities  which  it  would  afford  for 
the  protection  of  our  coaling  station  at  Oahu,  the  wonderfully 
favorable  physical  conditions  and  the  absence  of  serious  engi- 
neering difficulties,  the  generous  concessions  and  friendly  co-oper- 
ation of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica,  the  strategic  importance  of 
Lake  Nicaragua  and  the  detersive  action  of  its  fresh  waters  upon 
the  incrusted  keels  of  vessels,  the  fewness  of  the  locks,  the 
superabundance  of  water  for  the  service  of  the  canal  and  the 
security  of  its  banks  from  erosion  by  the  natural  storage  of  sudden 
floods  in  Lakes  Managua  and  Nicaragua,  the  advantage  of  having 
as  a  part  of  the  shipway  a  lake  and  river  so  broad  that  two  vessels 
could  sail  abreast  more  than  three-quarters  of  the  distance  from  gulf 
to  ocean,  the  healthfulness  of  the  Nicaraguan  climate  and  the  commer- 
cial assistance  of  prevalent  winds,  the  best  and  safest  form  of  a  con- 
gressional sanction  of  the  work,  the  limited  liability  and  exemption 
from  financial  loss  that  would  attend  a  loan  of  our  national  credit,  the 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  227 

reduced  cost  and  lower  freights  of  a  canal  built  under  the  auspices  of 
the  United  States  Government,  the  approval  of  this  great  work  by  presi- 
dents and  statesmen  without  distinction  of  party,  the  relative  cheap- 
ness of  construction,  the  variety  and  vastness  of  the  products  which 
would  seek  markets  through  this  waterway,  the  liberal  profits  which  a 
patronage  broad  as  the  needs  of  an  international  commerce  would  insure, 
the  imperative  necessity  of  an  American  control  of  the  canal,  and  the 
danger  in  the  event  of  tardy  action  by  the  United  States  of  the  con- 
struction of  this  shipway  by  some  foreign  power  and  of  a  management 
unfriendly  to  the  interests  of  this  country  —  each  topic  of  this  long 
array  has  been  discussed  by  engineers  and  conventions,  by  Congress 
and  the  press.  The  fulness  of  the  discussion  has  exhausted  all  the 
main  arguments  in  behalf  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal. 

But  recent  events  in  the  Orient  suggest  new  reasons  for  the  early 
completion  of  this  waterway.  A  few  years  ago,  in  a  difficult}'  with 
Japan  which  diplomacy  failed  to  settle,  American  men-of-war  were 
compelled  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  our  countrymen.  The  utter  and 
humiliating  inability  of  their  fleet  to  repel  American  warships  startled 
the  Japanese  from  their  fancied  security.  The  suggestions  of  their 
defeat  were  not  unheeded.  The  Japanese  were  quick  to  recognize  the 
causes  of  their  weakness.  In  the  costly  school  of  experience,  they 
learned  a  lesson  fraught  with  momentous  consequences.  The  chas- 
tisement led  to  a  thorough  reorganization  of  the  naval  and  military 
systems  of  Japan.  The  government  increased  its  armaments  on  land 
and  sea,  and  for  years  has  been  carefully  training  its  marines  and  sol- 
diers in  the  tactics  of  Europe  and  America. 

But  China,  with  its  inert  attachment  to  old  customs,  has  been  less 
progressive.  Its  few  reforms  have  been  insincere  and  ineffective. 
The  present  war  between  Japan  and  China  tests  the  merits  of  the  two- 
systems.  Everywhere  the  forces  of  Japan,  disciplined  by  modern 
methods  and  equipped  with  arms  of  precision,  are  victorious.  Appar- 
ently the  Chinese  will  be  ingloriously  vanquished.  They,  too,  will 
learn  the  practical  wisdom  which  disaster  teaches.  Their  statesmen 
are  astute,  and  they  cannot  fail  to  see  that  nothing  but  a  renunciation 
of  their  ancient  policies  and  an  adoption  of  western  reforms  will  preserve 
the  integrity  and  honor  of  the  Celestial  Empire.  Li  Hung  Shang  is  a 
far-sighted  man.  If  the  lethargy  of  his  government  had  permitted,  he 
would  long  ago  have  introduced  modern  improvements  into  China. 
The  late  defeats  of  Chinese  armies  will  compel  the  Emperor  to  sanc- 
tion innovations.  Means  for  the  rapid  transportation  of  troops,  muni- 
tions, and  commissary  stores  are  necessities  of  national  defense.  Rail- 
roads must  and  will  be  built.  But  railways  are  everywhere  the  pioneers 
of  progress.  In  India  they  have  been  powerful  factors  in  breaking 
down  the  barriers  of   caste,  increasing  the  exchanges  of   trade,  and 


228  Report  of  Proceedings 

introducing  the  methods  of  western  civilization.  They  will  produce 
similar  results  in  China.  The  railroads,  built  with  the  original  motive 
of  imperial  defense,  will  be  mainly  devoted  to  the  service  of  commerce. 
The  Chinese,  taught  by  far  severer  reverses  than  those  which  revolu- 
tionized the  military  system  of  Japan,  will  extend  their  lines  of  railroad 
to  every  part  of  the  Empire.  The  larger  profits  that  will  spring  from 
the  quickened  activity  of  domestic  industries  will  reconcile  the  people 
to  the  introduction  of  the  hated  innovation.  A  wider  intercourse  with 
mankind  will  tend  to  dispel  native  prejudices  against  foreigners,  and  the 
gratification  of  wants  steadily  becoming  more  civilized  and  diversified 
will  cause  a  larger  demand  for  imported  commodities.  It  seems  cer- 
tain that,  before  many  years,  even  the  interior  markets  of  China  will  be 
open  to  the  commercial  competition  of  the  world.  The  foreign  trade 
of  300,000,000  of  people  is  a  prize  which  all  great  maritime  nations  will 
struggle  to  win.  A  controlling  interest  in  this  commerce,  to  which  the 
United  States  from  its  relative  nearness  to  China  seems  justly  entitled, 
will  not  be  acquired  without  the  keenest  rivalry. 

Alert  sagacity  and  energetic  enterprise  are  the  qualities  that  win  com- 
mercial empire.  The  careers  of  the  foremost  nations  are  brilliant  illus- 
trations of  mercantile  forecast.  The  vigor  with  which  England  seizes 
the  remote  advantages  which  its  foresight  perceives  explains  its  splendid 
success.  This  very  Nicaragua  canal  furnishes  a  signal  example  of 
English  forethought.  As  soon  as  it  was  foreseen  that,  in  the  distant 
future,  a  shipway  might  possibly  be  built  across  Nicaragua,  the  British 
Government  claimed  a  protectorate  of  the  Mosquito  king.  As  his  petty 
domain  lay  at  the  mouth  of  the  San  Juan  river,  this  act  of  usurpation 
distinctly  contemplated  an  ultimate  control  of  the  proposed  canal. 

A  disregard  of  rights  is  never  a  good  precedent  for  our  countrymen 
to  follow,  but  the  sagacity  which  this  unjustifiable  seizure  shows  is 
worthy  of  American  imitation.  If  the  United  States  should  enforce  the 
Monroe  doctrine,  Great  Britain  would  soon  have  to  abandon  its  preten- 
sions to  the  territory  of  the  Mosquito  king.  In  its  contest  for  mercan- 
tile supremacy  the  United  States  will  have  to  contend  with  an  active 
and  well-organized  competition.  In  such  a  struggle,  only  enterprise 
and  the  most  effective  facilities  for  the  cheap  and  rapid  transportation 
of  freights  can  achieve  success.  Harbors  on  our  Pacific  coast  are  in- 
sufficient. The  freightage  of  merchandise  across  the  continent  is  too 
costly.  Our  Eastern  seaports  must  be  directly  accessible  by  water. 
But  a  direct  voyage  from  the  Atlantic  to  China  implies  a  strait  across 
the  Isthmus  of  Darien.  By  this  route,  the  voyage  from  New  York  to 
Shanghai  is  2700  miles  shorter  than  that  from  Liverpool.  In  their  com- 
petition for  the  trade  of  China,  a  saving  in  distance  equal  to  the  width 
of  the  Atlantic  should  insure  an  easy  victory  for  American  merchants. 
By  the  aid  of  a  shorter  line  of  communication,  our  countrymen  ought 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress,  229 

to  obtain  at  least  a  proportionate  share  of  the  enriching  commerce  of 
China. 

The  same  arguments  apply  with  still  greater  force  to  our  mercantile 
relations  with  Japan,  and  the  western  States  of  South  America.  By 
the  new  waterway,  the  distance  from  these  countries  to  our  Atlantic 
seaboard  is  much  less  than  that  from  China.  The  completion  of  the 
railway  from  Buenos  Ayres  to  Valparaiso  will  connect  an  extensive 
system  of  South  American  railroads  with  a  Pacific  line  of  steamships. 
If,  after  the  Nicaragua  Canal  has  been  finished,  the  United  States  does 
not  control  the  trade  of  the  western  Spanish  republics,  its  failure  can 
only  be  ascribed  to  a  culpable  neglect  of  a  great  opportunity.  The 
excess  of  our  manufactured  products  must  seek  foreign  markets.  But 
these  markets  can  hardly  be  found  in  Europe,  for  transatlantic  lands, 
manufacturing  far  more  than  they  need  for  domestic  consumption,  are 
dangerous  rivals  of  the  United  States  in  all  the  marts  of  the  world. 
But  Japan,  China,  and  South  America  have  not  yet  become  manufac- 
turing countries.  The  products  of  their  factories  do  not  supply  home 
wants.  There  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  why  Americans  should  not 
through  the  facilities  which  the  Nicaragua  Canal  would  afford,  become 
masters  of  a  large  part  of  this  vast  trade.  The  profits  oftthis  com- 
merce would  in  a  very  few  years  defray  the  entire  cost  of  the  canal. 
But  trade  is  everywhere  conservative.  When  once  it  has  established 
its  business  relations,  it  is  reluctant  to  change.  If  Europeans  are  the 
first  to  obtain  a  control  of  the  larger  markets  which  will  soon  be  open 
in  the  far  East,  it  will  be  difficult  to  dispossess  them  of  their  ascend- 
ency. American  merchants  ought  to  insist  upon  an  immediate  con- 
struction of  the  Nicaragua  Canal,  and  to  be  ready,  with  shorter  lines  of 
communication,  to  avail  themselves  of  the  mercantile  opportunities 
which  the  Corean  war  is  destined  to  provide.  Unless  our  countrymen 
equal  Europeans  in  foresight  and  enterprise,  they  will  never  win  the 
splendid  prizes  of  Oriental  and  Spanish- American  trade. 

There  is  an  industrial  reason  fdr  an  immediate  prosecution  of  this 
great  work.  The  United  States  has  not  yet  recovered  from  the  panic. 
The  losses  in  the  shrinkage  of  values  are  incalculable.  There  is  not 
in  all  our  land  a  home  which  has  not  felt  the  effects  of  the  business 
depression.  Tens  of  thousands  of  laborers  are  still  out  of  employ- 
ment. A  large  part  of  the  $100,000,000  which  will  be  required  to 
build  the  canal  would  be  expended  in  buying  American  machinery 
and  paying  the  wages  of  American  workmen.  The  work  of  construc- 
tion would  give  employment  to  thousands  of  laborers  and  the  outlay  of 
millions  would  hasten  the  revival  of  our  languishing  industries. 

The  recent  resumption  of  work  upon  the  Panama  canal  shows 
that  the  colossal  failure  of  Lesseps  did  not  wholly  dishearten 
French  capitalists.     There  is  a  possibility  that  the  project  of  the  great 


230  Report  of  Proceedings 

engineer  may  yet  be  completed.  This  is  a  contingency  which  the  United 
States  cannot  regard  with  indifference.  With  the  exceptional  enmity 
of  Napoleon  III.,  the  relations  between  France  and  the  United  States 
have  nobly  exemplified  the  constancy  of  our  international  friendship. 
But,  if  there  should  be  any  interruption  of  this  amity,  the  possession  of 
the  Panama  canal  by  a  hostile  power  would  be  full  of  danger  to  the  United 
States.  A  shipway  open  to  the  fleet  of  an  enemy,  but  closed  to  American 
men-of-war,  would  imperil  our  national  safety.  In  the  event  of  a  war 
between  Great  Britain  and  France,  the  mistress  of  the  seas  might  wrest 
from  its  Gallic  rival  the  control  of  the  Panama  Canal.  The  acquisition 
of  a  shorter  waterway  through  which  its  navy  could  hasten  to  protect 
British  Columbia,  or  to  attack  our  Pacific  States,  would  gratifiy  a  long 
eherished  ambition  of  the  English  Government.  Americans  would  find 
it  more  difficult  to  repel  the  aggressiveness  of  the  English  than  to  sur- 
pass the  enterprise  of  the  French.  The  United  States  will  never 
interfere  to  prevent  the  completion  of  the  Panama  Canal.  Con- 
sequently its  only  means  of  securing  a  superiority  of  commercial 
and  defensive  advantages  is  the  prompt  construction  of  the  Nicaragua 
Canal.  From  its  greater  nearness  to  the  United  States,  its  larger 
capacitygfor  the  passage  of  ships,  its  better  climate,  and  the  steady 
sweep  of  winds  favorable  to  sailing  vessels,  the  Nicaragua  Canal  would 
be  far  more  beneficial  to  our  own  country  than  the  Panama  Canal 
would  be  to  France.  Alike  for  purposes  of  mercantile  profit  and  naval 
defense,  our  Government  ought  quickly  to  anticipate  its  French  rival  in 
cutting  a  ship  canal  across  the  Isthmus  of  Darien. 

The  building  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  would  quicken  the  indus- 
tries of  the  United  States  with  the  impulses  of  a  greater  pros- 
perity. Agriculture,  manufactures,  and  commerce  would  unitedly 
support  a  measure  whose  consummation  would  so  greatly  promote 
their  own  interests.  The  alleged  unfriendliness  of  the  trans- 
continental railroads  to  the  water  route  must  be  a  misapprehension. 
An  opposition  so  injurious  to  the  future  welfare  of  those  lines 
would  indicate  a  short-sighted  policy.  But  assuredly,  the  directors 
can  not  be  so  devoid  of  forecast  as  not  to  recognize  fruitful  sources  of 
railroad  prosperity.  They  could  hardly  fail  to  see  that  the  Nicaragua 
Canal  would  vastly  enlarge  the  population  and  resources  of  our  Pacific 
States.  The  increased  values  of  lumber,  cereals,  and  fruits,  would 
alone  soon  exceed  the  cost  of  the  shipway.  The  trade  of  our  western 
coast  is  now  large  and  far-reaching.  A  striking  proof  of  its  extent  is 
the  fact  that  a  merchant  of  Johannesburg  has  recently  come  to  this 
country  for  the  purpose  of  chartering  a  line  of  steamers  to  carry  lum- 
ber from  Puget  Sound  to  Africa.  The  new  water  route  would  not 
only  widely  extend  the  commerce  of  our  Pacific  States,  but  it  would 
also  create  many  unforeseen  industries.  These  novel  forms  of  mer- 
cantile enterprise  which  great  public  improvements  never  fail  to  de- 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  231 

velop  would  enrich  our  Pacific  commonwealths  with  still  ampler 
resources.  The  greater  traffic  of  larger  and  more  opulent  populations 
would  increase  the  business  of  the  trans-continental  railroads.  The 
great  prosperity  which  the  new  waterway  would  cause  would  augment 
the  overland  freights.  The  directors  of  our  inter-oceanic  railroads 
ought,  for  the  promotion  of  their  own  business  interests,  to  be  strong 
and  active  friends  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal. 

The  best  fruits  of  civilization  have  ripened  in  the  climates  of 
liberty.  The  free  enjoyment  of  every  civic  right  and  the  un- 
controlled exercise  of  every  talent  are  essential  to  the  highest 
development  of  material  prosperity  and  spiritual  refinement. 
The  institutions  of  our  Republic  are  the  freest  on  earth.  Here  the 
only  checks  upon  popular  liberty  are  the  restraints  which  the  people 
have  themselves  imposed.  Only  an  enlightened  patriotism  can  preserve 
our  precious  heritage  of  free  institutions.  There  are  no  material 
agencies  which  more  powerfully  foster  an  intelligent  loyalty  than  rail- 
roads and  steamships.  These  great  factors  of  civilization  diffuse 
intelligence,  extinguish  sectional  enmity,  enlarge  social  intercourse, 
liberalize  public  sentiment,  preserve  our  language  from  the  corruption 
of  local  dialects,  bind  our  States  more  intimately  together  with  the 
strong  ties  of  commercial  interests,  and  furnish  indispensable  facilities 
for  national  defense.  Every  important  extension  of  our  system  of 
intercommunication  increases  the  means  of  public  enlightenment  and 
strengthens  the  foundations  of  civil  order.  The  Nicaragua  Canal  would 
tend  more  effectively  than  any  other  single  line  of  transit  to  unify  the 
interests  and  multiply  the  defenses  of  the  United  States.  It  would,  by 
a  wider  dissemination  of  knowledge  and  the  spirit  of  free  institutions, 
extend  through  Spanish  America  the  sway  of  liberty  regulated  by  law. 
The  general  enlightenment  which  constant  intercourse  would  cause 
would  help  to  insure,  throughout  the  western  hemisphere,  the  perma- 
nency of  free  institutions.  In  its  broader  relations,  this  shipway  would 
foster  the  fellowship  and  brotherhood  of  mankind,  teach  the  grand 
economies  of  international  peace,  and  persuade  estranged  peoples  to 
reconcile  their  differences  by  the  rational  process  of  arbitration.  In 
their  eagerness  for  commercial  profit,  our  countrymen  ought  not  to 
ignore  the  nobler  benefits  which  the  Nicaragua  Canal  would  confer 
upon  mankind.  Its  ethical  services  in  behalf  of  universal  peace  and  a 
higher  civilization  deserve  a  distinct  recognition.  The  strong  interests 
and  friendships  which  spring  from  greater  intimacy  of  commercial 
intercourse  would  tend  to  settle  international  disputes  by  the  inexpen- 
sive and  bloodless  adjustments  of  peace,  rather  than  by  the  costly  and 
sanguinary  decisions  of  war. 

The  arguments  in  favor  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  are  irresistibly  con- 
vincing. The  people  of  the  United  States  recognize  the  vast  importance 
of  this  waterway  as  an  outlet  of  commerce  and  as  a  means  of  defense. 


232  Report  of  Proceedings 

Action  has  Dot  been  delayed  by  political  controversies.  Our  chief 
magistrates  and  eminent  statesmen  have,  irrespective  of  party  lines, 
advocated  this  measure.  What,  then,  is  the  cause  of  Congressional 
inaction  ?  It  is  partly  due  to  the  late  panic  which  withdrew  capital 
from  the  use  of  enterprise,  and  partly  to  the  timidity  of  Congress. 
But  the  revival  of  prosperity  has  released  hoarded  funds  from  captivity, 
and  the  public  approval  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  has  relieved  represent- 
atives from  their  hesitancy  to  vote  for  a  measure  that  might  not  be 
sanctioned  by  the  people.  Constituencies  are  ordinarily  apprehensive 
of  a  too  lavish  use  of  public  moneys,  and  congressmen,  obedient  to 
the  popular  will,  are  wont  to  advocate  retrenchment.  But  there  ought 
to  be  a  just  discrimination.  No  sagacious  merchant  would  hesi- 
tate to  invest  more  capital  in  his  business,  if  he  was  confident  that  the 
outlay  would  insure  larger  profits.  But,  so  far  as  foresight  can 
discern,  the  Nicaragua  Canal  will  bring  to  the  United  States  returns 
immeasurably  greater  than. the  cost  of  its  construction.  The  pre- 
cautions which  protect  a  loan  of  national  credit  would  secure  the 
United  States'  treasury  from  loss,  but  if  our  Government  should 
assume  the  entire  expense  of  building  this  shipway,  the  investment 
would,  with  the  single  exception  of  the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  be  the 
most  profitable  transaction  in  the  fiscal  history  of  the  United  States. 
A  present  economy  that  prevents  future  wealth  is  financial  folly. 
Public  opinion  ought  to  demand  of  Congress  an  immediate  endorse- 
ment of  an  undertaking  from  which  our  country  would  derive  such 
boundless  benefits.  Congressmen  would  not  dare  to  disregard  the 
authoritative  instructions  of  their  constituents.  This  convention  should 
supplement  its  own  insistence  upon  favorable  legislation  by  an  earnest 
appeal  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  demand  of  the  Government 
an  official  sanction  of  this  great  enterprise.  Sagacious  statesmanship, 
impatient  of  Congressional  delays,  will  promptly  provide  an  effective 
means  of  extending  our  commerce,  developing  our  resources,  and 
defending  Our  coasts. 

American  genius,  expending  only  a  small  portion  of  the  illimitable 
wealth  of  the  United  States  and  wielding  the  resistless  energies  which 
man  has  subdued  to  his  service,  will  soon  channel  a  passageway  from 
ocean  to  ocean. 

The  glory  of  success  will  be  as  lasting  as  the  utility  of  the  work. 

A  spirit  grandly  ambitious  and  wholly  dauntless  is  the  inspiration  of 
great  achievements.  America  ought  to  emulate  the  invincible  persist- 
ence of  Hercules.  The  government  of  the  United  States  cannot  assert 
its  determination  to  secure  a  shorter  course  to  the  Orient  in  more  fitting 
words  than  those  which  express  the  demigod's  sublime  defiance  of 
failure :  — 

"  Inveniam  viam,  autfaciam  "  (applause). 

Adjourned  until  Friday  morning. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  233 

Friday  Morning  Session. 

November  30,  1894. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  President  Cannon  at  10  a.  m.,  who 
announced  that  the  first  business  in  order  would  be  the  receipt  of  names 
of  Vice-Presidents  and  members  of  the  Executive  Committee  from 
various  States  and  Territories. 

Resolutions  were  introduced. 

Senator  Johnson:  I  desire  to  have  the  word  ''agriculture"  struck 
out  of  the  resolution  on  Hydraulic  Mining,  which  reads  as  follows :  — 

Besolved,  That  this  Congress  heartily  indorses  the  recommendation  of  the 
Miners'  Convention  recently  held  in  San  Francisco,  regarding  the  construction 
of  dams  in  the  mutual  interest  of  hydraulic  mining,  agriculture  and  navigation, 
and  further  urges  upon  Senators  and  Representatives  the  extension  of  similar 
provisions  to  other  States  and  Territories  where  similar  conditions  may  now 
or  hereafter  exist. 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  so  much  of  that  resolution  as  refers  to  agri- 
culture has  not  been  called  to  my  attention,  and  I  prefer  to  have  that 
stricken  out.  I  know  what  those  dams  are  for  and  I  have  no  objection 
to  the  resolution,  but  do  not  want  to  be  hauled  into  giving  that  on  the 
part  of  agriculture. 

Mr.  Benjamin  :  I  accept  the  amendment. 

The  word  "  agriculture  "  was  then  stricken  out  and  the  resolution 
adopted. 

Mr.  Whitmore  :  I  would  ask  to  have  the  floor  for  a  moment  as  a  matter 
of  privilege.  I  have  a  resolution,  prepared  by  Prof.Waterhouse  of  Wash- 
ington University,  which  was  to  have  been  offered  by  ex- Gov.  Francis 
of  Missouri,  who  was  appointed  a  delegate  by  the  Merchant's  Exchange 
and  also  by  the  Governor.  Owing  to  sudden  bereavement  in  his  family, 
he  is  prevented  from  being  present.  I  simply  wish  to  read  the  resolu- 
tion and  submit  it  with  a  few  explanatory  remarks  and  ask  that  it  be 
acted  upon  by  the  Congress  direct,  as  it  is  now  too  late  for  it  to  be 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions. 

Besolved,  That  the  Trans-Mississippi  Congress,  advocating  a  diversification 
of  our  national  industries,  recognizing  the  great  textile  value  of  Ramie  and  its 
luxuriant  growth  in  our  Gulf  States,  and  believing  that  recent  improvements 
in  mechanical  and  chemical  processes  of  preparing  the  fiber  will  render  the 
production  of  this  useful  staple  a  profitable  domestic  industry,  recommend  the 
cultivation  of  this  plant  to  our  southern  States  as  a  new  and  important  source 
of  textile  wealth. 

Professor  Waterhouse  of  Washington  University,  who  has  given  much 
time  and  study  to  this  subject,  has  kindly  furnished  the  following 
statement  in  regard  to  it: — 

The  great  economic  need  of  the  South  and  Southwest  is  a  diversifica- 
tion of  their  industries. 


234  Report  of  Proceedings 

Ramie  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  textile  plants  in  the  world.  It 
grows  in  our  Southern  States  with  rank  luxuriance.  Its  floss  is  stronger 
than  silk,  and  almost  as  lustrous.  It  is  alike  suited  to  the  demands  of 
utility  and  of  luxury  —  it  can  be  woven  into  the  most  useful,  or  the 
most  exquisitely  ornamental  fabrics.  The  plant  needs  a  warm,  moist 
soil.  Under  favorable  conditions,  it  will  produce  three  crops  a  season. 
In  a  semi-tropic  climate,  the  equable  and  steady  supplies  of  water 
which  irrigation  furnishes  would  foster  its  most  luxuriant  growth. 

The  demand  for  this  fine  and  beautiful  fiber  is  vastly  greater  than 
the  present  supply. 

The  only  obstacle  to  the  successful  culture  of  Ramie  in  the  United 
States  has  been  the  difficulty  of  preparing  the  fiber  for  the  loom.  But 
the  improvements  in  mechanical  and  chemical  processes  of  treatment 
which  have  been  made  within  the  last  year  justify  the  belief  that  the 
domestic  growth  of  Ramie  would  now  open  a  new  source  of  wealth  to 
our  Southern  States. 

It  is  in  view  of  these  facts  that  the  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial 
Congress  is  asked  to  recommend  to  the  planters  of  our  Gulf  States, 
New  Mexico  and  Lower  California,  the  cultivation  of  Ramie  as  a  profit- 
able means  of  diversifying  their  industries  and  increasing  their  textile 
resources. 

The  resolution  was  then  adopted. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Territories  was  called  for. 

A  number  of  resolutions  were  reported  from  the  Committee  on  Reso- 
lutions, embodied  in  one  report. 

Mr.  Bryan  called  for  a  division  of  the  resolutions,  so  that  a  vote  could 
be  taken  on  the  Territories  first. 

The  questions  were  divided. 

The  Chairman:  It  has  been  suggested  that  these  resolutions  be 
divided  and  that  the  two  first  resolutions  be  adopted.  They  are 
reported  unanimously  and  there  is  no  minority  report  against  them  ;  we 
can  get  them  out  of  the  way  and  then  proceed  to  the  discussion  of  the 
other  resolutions. 

The  following  resolutions  were  read  as  reported  by  the  Committee 
and  adopted: — 

Besolved,  That  Congress  be  earnestly  requested  to  pass  an  amendment  to  the 
41  Carey  Act,"  (which  donates  1,000,000  acres  of  the  arid  lands  to  each  State  in 
which  they  are  located)  extending  the  provisions  of  that  Act  to  the  Terri- 
tories. 

Besolved,  That  we  earnestly  urge  upon  Congress  at  its  coming  session  to 
pass  Enabling  Acts  providing  for  the  admission  of  Oklahoma,  New  Mexico  and 
Arizona  into  the  Union  as  States.  The  admission  of  these  Territories  into 
Statehood  would  greatly  promote  their  material  prosperity,  add  to  the  wealth 
and  strength  of  the  nation,  and  vest  in  the  people  of  said  Territories  the 
powers  of  local  self-government  to  which  they  are  justly  entitled. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  235 

The  following  resolution  was  submitted  as  the  majority  report  of 
the  Committee: 

Resolved,  That  the  alarming  condition  of  affairs  which  exists  in  the  Indian  Ter- 
ritory is  a  constant  menace  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  people  of  the  sur- 
rounding States,  an  obstruction  to  interstate  commerce,  and  a  disgrace  to  our 
civilization.  The  tribal  governments  of  that  Territory  have  signally  failed  to 
observe  the  requirements  of  existing  treaties  with  the  United  State?,  and  to 
protect  from  robbery  and  violence  the  lives  and  property  of  the  people.  We 
believe,  with  the  Dawes  Commission,  that  the  lands  of  the  Five  Tribes,  now 
monopolized  by  the  few,  should  be  allotted  in  severalty  to  all  the  members  of 
the  Tribes,  the  tribal  government  abolished  and  the  Indians  made  citizens 
of  the  United  States.  To  this  end  we  favor  the  prompt  provision  by  Congress 
for  a  State  and  Territorial  Government  over  the  allotted  lands,  and  complete 
court-jurisdiction,  and  the  uniting  of  all,  or  a  part,  of  said  lands  with  Oklahoma 
in  single  Statehood. 

The  following  minority  report  was  then  submitted  and  read: — 

"  The  undersigned  members  of  the  Committee  upon  Resolutions  respectfully 
report  that  they  are  unable  to  agree  with  the  action  of  a  majority  of  the  com- 
mittee upon  the  report  of  the  sub-committee  upon  Territories,  and  as  a  minor- 
ity report  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  substitute  offered  by  the  delegation 
from  the  Indian  Territory  in  lieu  of  the  second  resolution  offered  by  the  sub- 
committee on  Territories. 

(Signed)  G.  B.  Denison, 

Fielding  Lewis, 
Members  Committee  on  Territories." 

MINORITY   REPORT  —  INDIAN   TERRITORY. 

Whereas  :  The  fact  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  saw  fit  to  provide 
by  law  for  a  Commission  to  treat  with  the  Five  Civilized  Tribes  of  Indians  for  a 
change  in  the  manner  of  holding  the  lands  conveyed  to  them  by  the  United 
States  and  for  the  abolition  of  the  tribal  governments  now  maintained  by  those 
tribes,  and  that  said  Commission  has  made  its  report  in  favor  of  radical 
changes ;  and, 

Whereas  :  The  correspondents  of  various  newspapers  have  recently  been 
sending  to  such  papers  highly  sensational  and  largely  untruthful  reports  of  the 
conditions  existing  in  the  Indian  Territory;  and, 

Whereas:  We  recognize  the  fact  that  the  outside  popular  demand  for  a 
change  from  the  present  conditions,  although  largely  based  upon  want  of 
knowledge  of  the  real  situation,  or  upon  belief  in  the  statements  that  are 
actually  without  foundation,  has  grown  so  strong  that  it  seems  impossible  to 
resist  it;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved  by  the  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress : 

First :  That  the  wisest  course  that  can  be  pursued  in  regard  to  the  present 
Indian  Territory  is  for  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  to  pass  an  Act 
increasing  the  number  of  judges  in  the  Indian  Territory,  increasing  the  number 
of  commissioners,  and  increasing  their  jurisdiction,  and  conferring  upon  the 
United  States  Court  in  the  Indian  Territory  jurisdiction  over  all  violations  of 
law,  and  providing  for  a  survey  of  the  lands,  and  allotment  among  those  entitled 
to  share  therein. 


236  Report  of  Proceedings 

Second :  That  we  believe  the  question  of  a  Territorial  Government  or  of 
Statehood  should  be  deferred  until  after  the  allotment  of  the  lands  now  held  by 
the  Five  Civilized  Tribes  of  Indians  has  been  accomplished. 

(Signed) 

Gideon  Morgan, 

Chairman. 

A  Delegate  (from  Missouri) :  There  is  a  great  question  upon  the 
difference  between  these  two  reports,  a  great  moral  question  for  the 
people  of  this  country  to  take  into  consideration,  and  they  ought  to 
take  into  consideration  a  broader  scope  than  continuing  that  state  of 
affairs.  Jhey  can  easily  turn  into  a  territorial  condition,  and  the  report 
simply  means  to  step  into  that  condition,  so  that  the  people  of  that 
country,  and  those  who  want  to  immigrate  to  that  country,  would  be 
protected  in  their  lives,  and  that  the  lives  of  passengers  who  travel 
through  that  country  on  the  railroad  and  of  innocent  women  and  chil- 
dren will  be  safe.     I  favor  the  majority  report. 

Mr.  Johnson:  I  rise  more  to  get  information  than  anything  else* 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  real  bone  of  contention  here  is  that  the  one  side 
wish  to  add  the  territory  known  as  the  Indian  Territory  to  Oklahoma, 
and  have  it  admitted  as  a  State,  and  that  the  Indians,  the  Five  Tribes 
there,  be  made  citizens.  The  other  side  oppose  that.  The  people  in 
the  Indian  Territory  oppose  being  taken  in  as  a  State  until  those  Indian 
Tribes  have  had  their  rights  considered  in  the  light  of  citizenship.  Mr. 
President  and  gentlemen,  that  brings  up  a  very  important  question. 
If  that  is  done  there  rises  the  question  of  the  right  to  fill  the  offices, 
and  I  do  not  doubt  that  those  people  down  there  in  a  general  way  are 
industrious  people.  But  this  has  had  a  very  brief  consideration  here, 
and  I  do  not  believe  that  this  convention  has  the  facts  before  them  on 
which  they  can  intelligently  vote  on  that  question  at  this  time. 

Mr.  Hailey  (of  Indian  Territory)  :  Mr.  Chairman,  we  have  transferred 
to  the  U.  S.  Government  over  90,000,000,  acre's  of  land  that  has  built 
up  this  Mississippi  Valley  into  the  grand  country  that  she  is  to  day,  and 
lam  proud  of  it.  We  will  be  the  last  State  that  comes  into  the  Union, 
and  I  say  it  is  to  the  honor  of  this  country  that  we  should  be  granted 
one  star  in  the  constellation  of  stars  that  glitters  in  the  flag  of  our 
country. 

Hon.  Sidney  Clarke  (of  Oklahoma  Territory)  : 

Mr.  President,  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Congress: 
I  have  been  requested  by  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  to  defend  the 
majority  report,  and  to  present  the  conditions  which  exist  in  Oklahoma 
and  the  Indian  Territory  in  connection  with  the  demand  for  statehood. 
To  those  who  are  fully  advised  of  the  lamentable  condition  of  affairs 
in  the  Indian  Territory,  the  majority  report  needs  no  defense.     The 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  237 

resolution  of  the  majority  covers  the  whole  ground,  by  accurately  pre- 
senting the  facts,  and  demanding  of  Congress  the  proper  remedies. 
Let  me  read  it  again  in  your  hearing: — 

"Resolved,  That  the  alarming  condition  of  affairs  which  exists  in  the  Indian 
Territory  is  a  constant  menace  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  people  of  the  sur- 
rounding States,  an  obstruction  to  interstate  commerce  and  a  disgrace  to  our 
civilization.  The  tribal  governments  of  that  territory  have  signally  failed  to 
observe  the  requirements  of  existing  treaties  with  the  United  States,  and  to 
protect  from  robbery  and  violence  the  lives  and  property  of  the  people.  We 
believe,  with  the  Dawes  commission,  that  the  lands  of  the  Five  Tribes,  now 
monopolized  by  the  few,  should  be  allotted  in  severalty  to  all  the  members  of 
the  tribes,  the  tribal  governments  abolished  and  the  Indians  made  citizens  of 
the  United  States.  And  we  favor  the  prompt  provision  by  Congress  for  a 
State  or  Territorial  government  over  the  allotted  lands,  complete  court  jurisdic- 
tion, and  the  uniting  of  all  or  a  part  of  said  lands  with  Oklahoma  in  single 
Statehood." 

The  minority  report  pleads  for  delay  in  the  establishment  of  civil 
government,  and  seeks  to  conceal  the  real  condition  of  affairs  in  the 
Indian  Territory  —  the  reign  of  robbery  and  murder  and  blood  —  now 
prevailing  there,  and  to  abolish  which  the  report  of  the  majority  asks 
the  prompt  intervention  of  Congress. 

Mr.  President,  I  shall  deal  only  in  facts.  In  advocating  this  report, 
I  speak  not  only  for  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  but  in  behalf  of  the 
youngest  and  most  populous  of  the  Territories  of  the  United  States. 
If,  in  the  time  allotted  me,  I  can  give  to  this  body  a  glimpse  of  a  Ter- 
ritory born  in  a  day,  phenomenal  in  its  growth,  less  than  five  years  old, 
and  now  demanding  and  entitled  to  admission  into  the  Union  as  a  State, 
and  of  its  peculiar  relations  to  the  Indian  Territory,  I  shall  be  content. 
A  new  American  commonwealth,  thus  speedily  created,  is  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  energy  and  enterprise  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  without  a 
parallel  in  the  history  of  civilization. 

Oklahoma  occupies  a  central  position  between  the  Mississippi  river 
and  the  Rocky  mountains.  It  has  an  average  area  of  36,352  square 
miles  or  23,265,709  acres.  This  is  1,627,949  acres  greater  than  the 
area  of  the  State  of  Indiana.  Should  the  present  Indian  Territory  — 
the  country  of  the  Five  Civilized  Tribes  —  be  united  with  Oklahoma  in 
statehood,  then  the  new  State  would  have  an  area  of  44,563,161  acres, 
2,726,230  acres  larger  than  the  great  State  of  Missouri.  There  are 
thirty  States  in  the  Union  of  less  area  than  these  two  Territories  com- 
bined, and  twelve  States  have  less  area  than  Oklahoma  alone.  Nor  are 
we  lacking  in  population  necessary  for  statehood.  In  Oklahoma,  at 
the  recent  election,  there  were  nearly  50,000  votes,  showing  that  we 
have  a  population  of  250,000.  The  Indian  Territory  has  a  population 
of  not  less  than  250,000,  exclusive  of  about  65,000  Indians  and  people 


238  Report  of  Proceedings 

of  mixed  and  white  blood  connected  with  Indian  tribes.  Enumerated 
together,  there  is  at  this  moment  not  less  than  565,000  people  living 
within  the  limits  of  the  old  Indian  Territory,  entitled  to  home  rule, 
qualified  for  the  responsibilities  of  statehood,  and  appealing  to  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  for.  prompt  relief  from  exceptional  and 
extraordinary  conditions.  Here  is  a  population  nearly  twice  as  large 
as  that  of  any  territory  heretofore  admitted  into  the  Union,  and 
should  Congress  provide  for  admission  as  two  States,  then  each  would 
have  a  population  equal  to  any  Territory  admitted,  with  two  or  three 
exceptions.    • 

Why,  sir,  when  this  grand  imperial  commonwealth  of  Missouri 
entered  the  Union  in  1821,  she  had  but  a  trifle  over  66,000  people. 
Now,  after  the  lapse  of  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  century,  with  its 
grand  history  and  unexampled  progress ;  now  that  there  has  been  built 
up  within  your  borders  this  magnificent  city,  the  center  of  the  com- 
merce and  the  civilization  of  the  most  fertile  river  valley  on  the  face  of 
the  globe  —  the  center  of  a  vast  empire  of  wealth  and  power ;  now 
that  our  government  is  strong  and  our  free  institutions  are  entrenched  in 
the  confidence  of  the  mass  of  the  people,  north  and  south,  east  and 
west;  now  that  the  admission  of  Missouri  has  been  followed  by  the 
admission  of  twenty  States  stretching  from  the  great  lakes  to  the  Pacific 
ocean,  there  comes  an  appeal  from  the  Territory  of  Oklahoma,  that  has 
four  times  the  population  Missouri  had  in  1821,  inviting  your  aid  in 
securing  admission  without  delay  into  the  sisterhood  of  sovereign  States. 
Oklahoma  can  be  joined  with  the  Indian  Territory  and  form  a  single 
State,  as  her  geographical  limits  can  be  extended  on  the  south,  so  as 
to  include  a  portion  or  all  of  the  Chickasaw  Country.  There  is  some 
diversity  of  opinion  in  Oklahoma  as  to  the  boundaries  of  the  proposed 
State.  Some  of  our  people  want  to  limit  the  State  to  the  present 
boundaries  of  the  Territory,  reaching  this  conclusion  through  political 
considerations.  But  I  think  it  safe  to  say  that  a  large  majority  would 
prefer  the  boundaries  of  the  old  Indian  Territory  should  be  the  bound- 
aries of  the  new  State,  or  if  two  States  are  to  be  formed  that  the 
Chickasaw  country  should  be  added  to  Oklahoma.  Let  me  say  here 
that  the  statehood  movement  in  Oklahoma  has  been  non-partisan  from 
the  first,  and  that  now,  more  than  ever  before,  men  of  all  political 
parties  are  anxious  for  a  deliverance  from  territorial  conditions. 

We  appeal,  therefore,  Mr.  President  and  gentlemen,  to  men  of  all 
political  parties  to  favor  our  admission  into  the  Union  at  the  ensuing 
session  of  Congress,  as  suggested  by  the  terms  of  the  majority  report. 
We  appeal  to  every  financial  and  commercial  interest  in  all  the  States 
of  the  Mississippi  valley  to  speak  a  good  word  in  our  behalf.  We 
especially  appeal  to  this  great  city  and  State,  with  which  in  the  near 
future  we  shall  be  closely  united  in  all  the  relations  of  trade,  trans- 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  239 

portation  and  commerce,  to  instruct  your  Senators  and  Members  of 
Congress,  to  vote  for  the  admission  of  Oklahoma.  By  those  who  are 
familiar  with  the  Territory  of  Oklahoma  and  particularly  the  magnitude 
of  its  agricultural  and  mineral  resources,  and  the  numerous  elements  of 
wealth  and  development  within  its  borders,  the  justice  of  our  demand 
for  immediate  statehood  will  be  readily  admitted.  Look  for  a  moment 
at  our  situation.  Examine  our  geographical  location  and  our  conven- 
ient and  natural  relations  to  the  trade  of  this  city  and  to  the  States  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley.  Note  if  you  please  our  rapid  progress  in  the 
creation  of  taxable  wealth  and  the  consequent  advantages  to  be  derived 
from  our  trade  and  commerce.  Large  as  it  is  to-day,  it  will  be  concen- 
trated and  increased  with  marvelous  rapidity  if  Congress  will  give  us 
statehood,  and  remove  the  fatal  obstructions  which  now  exist  in  the 
Indian  Territory  and  which  operate  to  paralyze  and  to  destroj' 
(applause). 

The  real  value  of  taxable  property  in  Oklahoma  is  not  less  than  one 
hundred  million  dollars.  Our  cities  and  towns  are  growing  rapidly, 
large  are  as  of  many  million  acres  (as  in  the  case  of  the  Cherokee  out- 
let), are  settled  in  a  single  day,  and  the  conveniences  and  necessities  of 
life  which  it  has  taken  many  years  to  secure  in  all  other  territories, 
have  been  made  available  in  Oklahoma  in  a  few  short  months.  There 
are  now  in  operation  in  Oklahoma  and  the  Indian  Territory  more  than 
1,500  miles  of  railroad.  The  two  territories  contain  at  least  2,000,000 
head  of  range  cattle  and  horses,  a  great  proporion  of  which  now 
escape  taxation  in  the  absence  of  civil  government  in  the  Indian  Terri- 
tory, and  because  of  the  inefficiency  of  territorial  government  in 
Oklahoma.  Our  soil  is  equal  in  fertility  to  that  of  Illinois,  or  of  Mis- 
souri, or  of  Kansas,  and  the  climate  is  salubrious  and  well  adapted  to 
the  production  of  every  variety  of  fruit,  and  of  corn,  wheat  and  cotton, 
and  of  all  the  crops  common  to  that  latitude.  Surely  we  are  entitled 
to  home  rule  —  to  a  State  government —  instead  of  being  made  the  foot- 
ball of  changing  administrations  and  the  prey  of  foreign  officials! 

By  the  census  of  1890,  the  three  territories  of  Utah,  New  Mexico 
and  Arizona  had  a  total  population  of  only  421,118,  or  153,882  less 
than  the  present  population  of  the  Indian  Territory  and  Oklahoma, 
and  only  171,118  more  than  Oklahoma  has  at  the  present  time.  I  know 
of  no  citizen  of  Oklahoma  but  what  believes  that  our  neighbors  on  the 
west  should  have  been  clothed  with  the  panoply  of  statehood  long  ago. 
And  who  does  not  now  rejoice  that  Utah  has  at  last  secured  justice  at 
the  hands  of  Congress,  and  who  does  not  ardently  hope  for  the  prompt 
admission  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  at  the  coming  session  of  Con- 
gress? Welcome,  thrice  welcome,  say  we  to  these  three  Territories  into 
the  family  of  sovereign  States !  Rich  in  mineral  wealth,  in  gold  and 
in  silver  —  the  money  of  the  world  —  they   may  be  crucified  by  the 


240  Report  of  Proceedings 

nation's  financial  policy  of  to-day,  but  they  will  rise  to-morrow  to 
emancipate  the  nation  from  its  depression,  and  strip  the  moth  and  rust 
of  an  antiquated  past  from  the  financial  standard  of  the  future 
(applause). 

It  is  for  the  interest  of  the  people  of  theUnited  States  that  our  territorial 
system  shall  be  promptly  terminated.  It  was  regarded  by  the  early  states- 
men of  the  republic,  by  whom  it  was  devised,  as  a  temporary  expedi- 
ent, and  now  that  population  and  development  have  possessed  every 
portion  of  our  great  country,  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  bury  it  out  of 
sight  forever.  No  political  party  should  now  oppose  the  admission  of 
all  the  Territories  as  States.  The  petty  interests  of  political  partisans 
sink  into  insignificance  compared  with  the  magnificent  results  which 
follow  the  founding  of  new  American  commonwealths.  With  state- 
hood comes  the  common  school  system,  strengthened  and  perfected  — 
the  nursery  of  public  intelligence  and  public  virtue.  With  statehood 
comes  the  self-reliance  without  which  neither  communities  or  individ- 
uals can  reach  the  full  measure  of  prosperity.  With  statehood  the 
obnoxious  principle  of  taxation  without  representation  is  abolished,  and 
every  material,  educational,  moral  and  religious  interest  is  made  to 
conserve  the  common  weal.  It  is  of  trifling  consequence  what  the 
political  complexion  of  the  future  States  will  be,  compared  with  the 
legacy  of  wealth,  intelligence  and  patriotism  they  will  add  to  the  com- 
mon property  of  the  nation,  and  woe  to  the  political  party  that  attempts 
to  prevent  their  admission.  There  is  no  more  glorious  record  in  all 
our  history  than  that  which  relates  to  the  admission  of  new  States  into 
the  Federal  union,  commencing  with  Vermont  in  1791,  and  reaching  up 
to  the  admission  of  Wyoming  in  1890.  In  every  instance  where  oppo- 
sition was  made  to  the  admission  of  a  Territory  to  statehood  disaster 
has  resulted  to  the  opposing  party. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  spoken  of  the  position  of  Oklahoma  in  its 
natural  relations  to  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the  Mississippi  valley, 
and  to  this  great  metropolis.  But  there  is  one  obstruction  which  must 
be  removed  by  congressional  action  before  this  trade  can  be  safely  and 
fully  developed  and  the  proper  lines  of  transportation  perfected. 
About  20,000,000  acres  of  land  in  the  Indian  Territory,  lying  directly 
between  St.  Louis  and  Oklahoma,  is  held  in  common  by  the  Five  Civi- 
lized Tribes.  This  land  was  originally  intended  for  the  exclusive  occu- 
pancy of  the  Five  Tribes.  It  was  conveyed  to  them  by  the  United 
States  with  this  specific  understanding.  But  these  so-called  Indians, 
a  large  proportion  of  whom  are  practically  white  people,  have  perverted 
the  trust,  a  few  designing  men  in  each  tribe  have  monopolized  vast 
tracts  of  the  best  land,  and  in  the  absence  of  a  Territorial  or  State  gov- 
ernment, a  deplorable  condition  of  affairs  has  ensued  which,  as  stated 
in  the  majority  report,  is  a  disgrace  to  our  civilization,  and  to  the  effi- 


Trans -Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  241 

•ciency  of  the  government  of  the  United  States.  For  nearly  a  year  a 
commission  appointed  under  an  act  of  Congress  has  been  attempting 
to  negotiate  with  the  Five  Tribes  for  the  abolition  of  tribal  relations,  the 
settlement  of  the  Indians  on  lands  in  severalty  on  equal  terms,  and  for 
the  establishment  of  the  usual  forms  of  civil  government.  But  the 
commission  has  utterly  failed  to  accomplish  anything.  The  tribal 
leaders,  selfish  beyond  description  in  absorbing  the  land  and  money  of 
the  Tribes,  absolutely  refuse  to  treat  with  the  commission,  though  they 
are  confessedly  powerless  to  preserve  public  order  and  to  protect  life 
and  property.  Let  me  quote  only  a  sentence  or  two  from  the  recent 
report  of  the  commission  to  the  President,  descriptive  of  the  situation. 
After  enumerating  the  reasonable  and  just  propositions  submitted  to 
the  Indians,  and  stating  how  they  have  by  various  methods  invited  and 
induced  at  least  250,000  white  people  to  come  into  the  territory,  "but 
few  of  whom  might  be  called  intruders,''  the  report  says: — 

"  These  tribal  governments  have  wholly  perverted  their  high  trust,  and  it  is 
the  plain  duty  of  the  United  States  to  enforce  the  trust  it  has  so  created  and 
recover  for  its  original  uses  the  domain  and  all  the  gains  derived  in  the  per- 
version of  the  trust,  or  discharge  the  trustees  *  *  *  The  United  States  also 
granted  to  these  Tribes  the  power  of  self-government,  not  in  conflict  with  the 
constitution.  They  have  demonstrated  their  incapacity  to  so  govern  them- 
selves, and  no  higher  duty  can  rest  upon  the  government  that  granted  this 
authority  than  to  revoke  it  when  it  has  so  lamentably  failed." 

Mr.  President,  this  report  of  the  Dawes  Commission  —  a  commission 
composed  of  able  and  conservative  men  and  only  made  after  a  long 
and  careful  investigation  of  existing  conditions  in  the  Indian  Territory, 
is  strictly  true.  Every  interest  of  this  great  city,  every  interest  of  the 
States  and  Territories  represented  here,  no  less  than  the  common  wel- 
fare of  the  Five  Tribes  and  of  the  whole  nation,  is  jeopardized  by  such 
a  deplorable  condition  of  affairs.  Large  sections  of  the  Indian  Ter- 
ritory are  at  this  moment  dominated  by  desperadoes  and  robbers. 
Peaceable  citizens  residing  in  the  Territory,  railway  trains,  express 
companies,  banks  and  private  residences,  are  robbed  almost  daily  by 
organized  bands  of  criminals.  If  one  band  is  killed  or  captured, 
another  equally  desperate  springs  up  to  take  its  place,  and  to  perpet- 
uate the  awful  record  of  crime  and  blood.  All  this  has  been  fostered 
and  made  possible  by  the  neglect  of  Congress  to  establish  a  govern- 
ment over  that  country,  by  including  it  within  an  organized  Territory 
or  State,  and  by  denying  to  the  250,000  American  citizens  residing 
there,  the  power  to  establish  the  simplest  police  regulation  for  the 
suppression  of  crime,  and  the  protection  of  life  and  property. 

Let  it  be  understood  that  in  solving  this  problem,  in  asking  Congress 
to  lift  this  great  population  into  statehood  and  prosperity  —  into  a  con- 
dition where  they  will  have  the  power  to  protect  themselves  and  estab- 


242  Report  of  Proceedings 

lish  good  government,  there  is  no  proposition  on  the  part  of  anybody 
to  deprive  the  Indians  of  a  single  acre  of  land  or  a  dollar's  worth  of 
property.  But  we  do  insist  that  Congress  must  now  provide  that  law 
and  order  shall  take  the  place  of  lawlessness  and  crime,  that  the  reign 
of  land  monopoly  and  of  conspirators  and  official  rogues,  now  bold  and 
supreme,  shall  be  broken  up,  that  the  natural  elements  of  trade  and 
commerce  shall  be  established  and  protected,  and  that  this  black  spot 
on  the  map  of  the  United  States  shall  be  wiped  out  forever.  And  in 
accomplishing  this  grand  result,  the  real  Indians  of  the  Five  Tribes, 
emancipated  from  the  control  of  corrupt  leaders  and  encouraged  by 
the  blessings  and  benefits  and  methods  of  our  Christian  civilization, 
will  rejoice  in  their  deliverance  from  the  obstacles  which  have  so  long 
obstructed  their  progress  to  higher  and  better  conditions.  It  is  my 
personal  belief  that  the  best  statesmanship  in  dealing  with  the  problem 
would  be,  for  Congress  to  promptly  pass  an  Enabling  Act  at  the  ensuing 
session  creating  a  single  State  out  of  all  the  old  Indian  Territory.  But 
if  Congress  should  be  unwilling  to  promptly  provide  for  single  State- 
hood, then  the  Territory  of  Oklahoma  as  at  present  organized,  with 
the  Chickasaw  country  added  on  the  south,  should  be  admitted  as  a 
State  at  once,  and  the  strong  arm  of  the  Federal  law,  carrying  with  it 
allotment  of  lands,  abolition  of  tribal  governments,  the  reformation  of 
the  courts,  and  destruction  and  death  to  desperate  criminals,  should 
be  extended  over  the  remaining  Indian  Territory  (applause). 

There  is  no  doubt  about  the  power  of  Congress  to  do  this.  It  is  in 
the  interest  of  justice  and  civilization,  and  does  not  admit  of  delay. 
Speaking  for  the  good  people  of  Oklahoma  of  all  parties  and  profes- 
sions, and  for  those  in  the  Indian  Territory  who  are  seeking  relief 
from  the  condition  described  by  Mr.  Dawes  and  his  associates,  I  appeal 
to  you,  gentlemen,  to  join  us  in  our  demand  on  Congress  to  enact  the 
necessary  legislation.  May  we  not  hope  that  the  senators  and  repre- 
sentatives of  the  American  people,  will  now  regard  the  people  of  all 
the  territories  in  a  spirit  of  justice  and  patriotism,  and  that  they  will 
no  longer  hesitate  to  welcome  Oklahoma,  New  Mexico  and  Arizona 
into  the  family  of  sovereign  States?  In  rejecting  the  minority  report, 
and  in  passing  the  report  of  the  majority  of  the  committee,  this  Trans- 
Mississippi  Congress  will  voice  in  no  uncertain  terms  a  policy  that  will 
do  justice  to  the  Five  Tribes,  suppress  the  lawlessness  and  crime  which 
now  threaten  their  destruction,  and  place  Oklahoma  and  the  Indian 
Territory  in  their  claims  for  statehood  in  a  conspicuous  position  before 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  (applause). 

The  majority  report  was  then  re-read. 

The  vote  was  then  proceeded  with  upon  the  substitution  of  the 
minority  report  for  the  majority  report. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  243 

A  Delegate  (from  Missouri) :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  change 
my  vote  to  30  for  Missouri. 

The  Chairman  :  That  cannot  be  done  unless  that  number  are  present. 
If  there  be  only  one  member  present  he  can  only  vote  10  votes. 

The  Delegate  :  We  have  in  the  neighborhood  of  30  present. 

Mr,  Johnson  called  for  the  reading  of  the  names  of  the  delegation. 

The  Delegate  :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  will  make  it  20  votes. 

Mr.  Johnson  :  I  again  call  for  the  names,  or  let  Missouri  stand  up. 

The  Missouri  delegation  rose  and  there  were  only  five  present. 

The  Chairman:  As  there  are  five  members  present,  then  you  are 
entitled  to  fourteen  votes. 

Mr.  Black:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  desire  to  appeal  from  the  ruling  of  the 
Chair  on  the  vote  allowed  to  Missouri,  for  the  reason  that  under  the 
rules  of  this  House,  the  ruling  of  the  Chair  was  voted  down.  I  made 
the  same  amendment  myself  and  the  rule  was  adopted  that  ten  votes 
were  all  the  votes  allowed  to  each  State  or  Territory,  unless  more  than 
ten  votes  were  present,  and  that  the  delegation  vote  the  number  of  votes 
present  up  to  thirty. 

The  Chairman:  The  Chair  stands  corrected.  I  remember  that  that 
was  the  understanding.     Therefore,  Missouri  will  record  ten  votes. 

The  substitute  was  lost 

The  question  was  then  put  on  the  motion  to  adopt  the  majority  report, 
which  was  duly  seconded  and  carried. 

The  Chairman:  The  Chair  now  begs  to  announce  that  the  names 
that  were  requested  of  the  Vice-Presidents  from  the  various  States  and 
of  the  members  of  the  Executive  Committee  have  not  been  reported, 
except  in  a  few  cases. 

Mr.  Whitmore:  I  wish  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  delegates 
the  utmost  importance  of  naming  as  members  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee men  who  will  take  the  most  active  interest  in  the  work  of  the 
Congress,  for  upon  them  is  largety  dependent  the  delegations  from  the 
different  States.  The  Vice-President  may  be  a  man  of  some  high  posi- 
tion. He  has  no  work  to  do.  It  is  an  ornamental  position  and  an 
honor,  and  therefore  his  eminence  may  be  of  some  benefit ;  but  on  the 
Committee  we  want  active,  earnest,  working  men.  I  desire  to  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  no  provision  was  made  in  our  report  day 
before  yesterday  for  filling  vacancies  in  the  Executive  Board.  Being  a 
member  of  the  Executive  Committee,  I  do  not  want  to  make  a  motion 
myself,  but  suggest  that  the  Executive  Committee  have  power  to  fill 
vacancies. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  Executive  Committee  have 
power  to  fill  vacancies. 

The  Chairman:  The  remarks  of  the  Chairman  of  the  Executive 
Committee  are  important.     Utah  has  sent  a  large  delegation  here,  and 


244  Report  of  Proceedings 

I  may  say  that  it  is  due  in  the  main  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Executive 
Committee.  He  has  impressed  upon  our  people  the  necessity  of  having 
a  strong  delegation  here.  One  or  two  men  on  the  Executive  Commit- 
tee in  Utah  took  the  matter  in  hand  very  zealously,  and  to  this  may  be 
attributed  that  so  large  a  delegation  has  come  from  that  Territory,  and 
I  would  strengthen  his  remarks  and  impress  them  as  much  as  possible 
upon  the  minds  of  the  delegates,  that  suitable,  active  men  should  be 
selected  for  these  positions. 

The  motion,  that  the  Executive  Committee  be  authorized  to  fill 
vacancies,  was  then  carried. 

It  was  then 

Resolved,  That  the  Hon.  Geo.  Q.  Cannon,  the  President  of  this  Congress, 
and  Hon.  W.  J.  Bryan,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  be  in- 
structed to  present  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  at  its  forthcoming 
session,  and  also  to  other  proper  bodies,  the  action  of  this  Congress. 

The  special  order  of  business,  being  the  selection  of  a  place  of 
meeting  for  the  next  convention,  was  then  called  for,  and  the  following 
communication  was  then  read  :  — 

To  the  Chairman  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress. 

Mr.  President:  The  session  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress 
is  drawing  to  a  close,  and  we  are  about  to  settle  what  city  will  be  honored  by 
securing  the  place  for  holding  the  next  Trans-Mississippi  Congress.  As  a 
representative  citizen  of  Dubuque  where  I  have  spent  my  business  life,  I  desire 
to  say  that  it  would  be  a  pleasure  to  our  city  if  we  could  secure  the  next  meet- 
ing of  the  now  permanent  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress. 

The  city  of  Dubuque  is  one  of  the  five  great  commercial,  manufacturing,  and 
enterprising  cities  on  the  Mississippi  between  St.  Paul  and  New  Orleans.  It 
is  only  a  short  time  ago  that  the  Government  torpedo  boat  "  Erriceson  "  was 
launched  in  the  Ice  Harbor  at  Dubuque.  In  a  few  months  the  steamer  "  Win- 
dom,"  a  revenue  cutter,  built  for  the  Government,  will  be  launched  in  the  same 
harbor.  Dubuque  has  four  of  the  great  railway  systems  centering  in  the  city, 
reaching  all  points,  north,  south,  east  and  west  —  the  Burlington,  the  Illinois 
Central,  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul,  and  the  Chicago  Great  Western  rail- 
ways. The  city  has  several  fine  hotels,  twenty  miles  of  electric  railway  and  is 
well  lighted  with  electric  lights.  Dubuque  could  easily  accommodate  the  six 
hundred  people  who  have  attended  this  convention  as  delegates.  It  would  be 
hard  to  find  a  city  that  could  extend  courtesies,  hospitalities  and  attention  that 
the  enterprising  citizens  and  merchants  of  St.  Louis  have  extended  to  this 
Congress  and  their  many  friends,  but  Dubuque,  if  selected  as  the  next  place  of 
meeting  of  this  Congress,  will  take  St.  Louis  as  its  model  and  do  everything  in 
its  power  to  show  appreciation  of  the  honor  of  having  this  Trans-Mississippi 
Commercial  Congress  meet  within  her  doors. 

Bart  E.  Linehan. 

The  Secretary  then  read  telegrams  from  the  city  of  Portland,  Oregon, 
inviting:  the  convention  to  hold  its  next  session  there. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  245 

Mr.  Buller  (of  Idaho) :  Mr.  Chairman,  while  other  nominations 
have  been  made  at  banquets,  we  thought  it  best  to  bring  this  matter  up 
before  the  convention  itself. 

I  think  in  considering  the  location  of  the  next  session,  that  there  are 
many  great  questions  that  should  be  taken  into  consideration.  We 
meet  here  to  discuss  the  mining  and  irrigation  questions  and  I  believe 
if  you  locate  the  next  session  of  the  Congress  within  the  borders  of  a 
State  where  these  great  questions  have  been  made  a  success,  all  the 
people  living  within  the  jurisdiction  of  this  district  can  learn  more  con- 
cerning these  matters  than  they  can  if  you  locate  it  upon  the  shores  of 
the  Pacific  Ocean  every  other  year.  Idaho  is  a  wonderful  State.  We 
have  beautiful  valleys,  ranging  from  600  feet  to  6,000  feet  above  sea 
level.  Idaho  has  water  ditches,  upon  which  some  of  your  river  steam- 
boats might  ride.  Idaho  is  a  mining  State,  and  if  you  come  within  the 
borders  of  that  State,  we  will  teach  you  the  history  of  the  silver  dollar 
from  the  time  it  is  found  in  the  side  of  the  mountain  up  to  the  time  it 
is  passed  over  some  baker's  counter  in  payment  of  the  staff  of  life  for 
some  widow  or  some  orphan.  We  have  higher  peaks  —  and  if  you 
climb  to  the  summit  you  can  even  look  down  upon  the  roof  of  a  Chicago 
business  house.  I  am  satisfied  if  you  go  there  and  stand  upon  the 
banks  of  the  wonderful  Snake  River  and  cast  your  eye  westward,  ju3t 
as  the  snow  melts  down  before  the  noonday  sun,  all  of  the  beautiful 
places  that  you  have  passed  by  will  sink  into  the  oblivion  of  forget- 
fulness. 

Boise  City  is  located  where  we  have  in  the  vicinity,  the  gold  mine, 
the  silver  mine,  the  lead  mine  and  the  copper  mine.  We  have  magnifi- 
cent hotels  and  are  free  to  entertain  you  in  true  western  style.  We 
have  opera  houses  which  are  sufficient  to  accommodate  you  all.  There 
you  will  be  met  by  your  ex-President  McConnell,  who  will  bid  you  a 
hearty  welcome  with  outstretched  arms,  and  I  am  satisfied  that  if  you 
come  within  our  borders  and  meet  our  great  boys  and  be  introduced  to 
our  noble  mothers  and  look  upon  our  sweethearts,  you  will  never  regret 
coming  within  the  State  of  Idaho  to  hold  your  next  session  of  the 
Congress.  With  this  slight  and  modest  intimation  of  a  small  part  of 
the  great  pleasures  we  have  in  store  for  you,  I  take  great  pleasure  in 
nominating  Boise  City  as  the  place  for  holding  the  next  convention 
(applause). 

Mr  Black:  Mr.  President,  as  I  take  it,  this  question  of  selecting 
a  point  at  which  our  next  congress  will  meet  is  more  a  subject  to  look 
at  from  a  business  standpoint  than  from  an  oratorical  standpoint.  I 
am  satisfied  that  this  congress  is  a  congress  of  immense  influence  — 
that  it  could  be  made  of  absolute  influence  all  over  the  entire  Trans- 
Mississippi  country.  I  come  from  the  far  Northwest  corner  of  that 
country,  and  I  am  free  to  say,  until  the  matter  was  called  to  my  atten- 


246  Report  of  Proceedings 

tion  by  President  Whitmore  through  his  letters  and  circulars,  I  was 
unacquainted  with  the  vast  import  of  it.  I  tried  to  get  a  delegation 
to  come  to  this  convention.  It  was  found  that  no  one  in  our  locality 
knew  anything  about  it.  They  had  never  heard  of  it.  It  had 
the  reputation  of  being  a  crank  convention.  I  have  been  here. 
I  know  that  no  such  accusation  could  be  laid  against  it,  there- 
fore I  say  that  the  location  of  the  next  meeting  should  be  at 
a  point  near  where  a  former  congress  has  never  been  held,  because 
when  that  congress  meets  in  a  community  and  those  who  live  in 
that  community  have  an  opportunity  of  seeing  what  the  congress  is,  it 
educates  them.  As  I  understand  the  matter,  congresses  have  been 
held  at  Omaha,  Galveston,  New  Orleans,  Denver,  Ogden,  San  Fran- 
cisco and  this,  the  seventh,  at  St.  Louis,  and  each  and  every  section 
of  the  country  has  had  the  convention,  except  the  far  Northwest.  I 
believe  that  nothing  would  excite  the  interest  of  the  people  of  the 
Northwest  more  than  to  hold  this  convention  in  one  of  the  great  cities 
of  Oregon  or  Washington.  That,  as  a  business  reason,  I  think,  ex- 
ceeds any  other  reason  you  could  have.  It  is  true  that  Idaho  is  in  the 
Northwest,  but  Idaho  is  near  to  the  great  State  of  Utah,  and  has 
already  received  the  benefit  of  a  congress  held  in  the  West  within  a  few 
hundred  miles  of  them.  For  that  reason  I  say  this  congress  should  be 
held  at  Portland.  Another  and  very  important  reason; — this  Con- 
gress, when  it  convenes,  has  a  large  or  small  number  of  delegates 
according  to  the  expense  with  which  the  delegates  get  there.  I  do  not 
know  how  many  delegates  in  this  hall  are  railroad  men  personally. 
This  is  my  second  trip  from  ocean  to  ocean  and  I  have  learned  in  that 
time  that  if  I  am  going  to  the  Atlantic  coast,  they  have  terminal  rates. 
If  I  am  going  to  the  Pacific  coast  they  have  terminal  rates  to  San 
Francisco,  Portland,  Seattle,  Tacoma  and  even  many  of  the  smaller 
cities,  and  you  can  visit  any  of  those  places  all  for  the  same  price.  It 
is  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  the  people  of  this  Trans-Mississippi 
region  that  when  they  go  West  they  go  where  they  can  see  all  of  it  for 
the  same  price.  When  they  go  to  Portland  they  can  buy  a  ticket  over 
the  Canadian  Pacific,  thence  South  through  Puget  Sound,  seeing  a  body  of 
water  the  like  of  which  exists  nowhere  in  the  world  except  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea  —  and  I  tbink  not  even  in  the  Mediterranean  —  seeing  all  of 
California  and  returning  home  for  the  same  money.  That  is  not  true  of 
Boise  City.  That  is  a  second  reason  that  will  bring  many  more  men  to 
the  next  meeting  of  this  convention  if  it  is  held  in  Portland.  The 
third  reason  is  the  capacity  of  the  city  where  we  desire  to  hold  it.  We 
all  know  what  St.  Louis  is.  We  do  not  think  that  we  are  going  to  beat 
St.  Louis.  St.  Louis  has  done  us  proud,  but  we  still  insist  that  Port- 
land is  a  city  capable  of  taking  care  of  all  who  come  there.  It  has 
hotel  accommodations  for  nearly  3,000.     It  has  opera  houses  as  well  as 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  247 

Boise  City.  We  do  not  claim  that  Portland  is  the  only  city  able  to 
accommodate  the  convention,  but  we  do  claim  that  Portland  is  a  city  fit 
to  accommodate  it.  For  these  reasons,  I  can  say  that  the  State  of 
Washington  most  heartly  indorses  the  invitation  given  by  Portland  for 
the  convention  to  hold  its  next  meeting  there,  and  its  10  votes  will  be 
cast  for  Portland  (applause). 

Mr.  Johnson:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  not  any  favors  to  give  nor  to 
ask,  nor  has  the  State  of  Colorado,  nor  has  its  delegation.  But  the 
last  meeting  of  this  Congress  was  on  the  Pacific  coast,  held  at  the  ex- 
treme western  boundary  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  country.  This  con- 
vention is  upon  the  Mississippi  river,  the  eastern  boundary  of  the 
Trans-Mississippi  country,  and  I  submit  to  this  convention  that  it  is 
just  a  little  bit  unjust  to  us  to  take  the  next  convention  back  upon  the 
Pacific  coast  again.  That  while  it  is  a  great  pleasure  to  visit  the 
Pacific  coast  for  the  eastern  people,  while  it  is  a  great  pleasure  for 
the  Pacific  coast  people  to  visit  the  East,  it  is  sometimes  best  to  meet 
on  middle-ground,  or  apparently  middle-ground.  Boise  City  is  to  some 
extent  a  place  between  the  two  extremes,  and  since  the  two  extremes 
have  had  the  convention,  Colorado  seconds  the  selection  of  Boise  City 
(applause). 

An  invitation  was  then  given  by  Mr.  Savage  of  Kansas  to  hold  the 
next  meeting  in  the  city  of  Topeka. 

Mr.  Bryan  then  read  a  telegram  from  the  Mayor  of  Omaha,  Neb., 
inviting  the  convention  to  hold  its  next  meeting  there. 

Mr.  Bryan:  Mr.  Chairman,  it  is  not  necessary  for  a  city  as  well 
known  as  Omaha  to  be  spoken  of  in  eulogistic  terms.  Nebraska  speaks 
for  herself.  You  all  know  her,  because  you  have  to  travel  through 
Nebraska  to  get  to  any  part  of  the  Northwestern  country,  and  we  in- 
vite this  Trans-Mississippi  Congress  to  hold  its  next  session  in  Omaha. 
So  far  as  railroad  rates  are  concerned,  the  Missouri  river  rates  are 
based  upon  the  distance  from  the  Missouri  river,  and  Omaha  is  one  of 
the  great  cities,  and  we  can  afford  to  offer  all  the  inducements  in  the 
way  of  rates  that  any  city  can  offer.  It  is  near  the  Eastern  part  of  this 
Trans-Mississippi  region.  We  are  as  near  to  the  Dakotas,  Minnesota, 
Kansas,  Missouri  and  several  States  south,  as  any  of  those  western 
States.  The  convention  has  been  meeting  on  the  Pacific  coast  and  on 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  It  is  now  meeting  down  here  in  the  southeastern 
part  of  the  territory.  It  met  the  last  time  at  San  Francisco  and  the 
year  before  at  Ogden.  It  seems  to  me  it  is  only  natural  that  it  shall 
now  come  up  into  our  section  of  the  country.  One  reason  why  I  am 
specially  anxious  to  have  it  come  up  to  Nebraska  is,  that  Nebraska  has 
been  equally  divided  on  every  question  that  has  come  before  this  body. 
I  want  you  to  come  up  there  and  help  bring  them  all  over  to  our  side. 
If  you  could  have  this  convention  there  once,  the  people  of  Nebraska 


248  Report  of  Proceedings 

would  be  a  unit  in  favor  of  those  questions  upon  which  this  section  of 
the  country  is  divided  (applause). 

Gov.  Prince  :  Mr.  President,  I  do  not  rise  to  name  a  place  or  to 
second  a  nomination,  but  simply  to  state  the  reasons  which  will  actuate 
me  in  casting  my  vote.  Tbe  question,  it  seems  to  me,  is  whether  we 
are  to  select  a  place  which  would  be  the  pleasantest  place  to  go  to, 
where  we  might  enjoy  ourselves  the  most,  or  to  go  to  the  locality  where 
we  can  do  the  most*  good  and  have  the  most  influence.  Now,  this  body 
holds  no  legislative  powers,  and  it  cannot  carry  into  effect  anything  it 
adopts.  It  can  simply  influence  public  opinion  —  that  is  all.  Now, 
the  public  opinion  that  it  is  desirable  that  the  western  sentiment  should 
influence,  is  the  public  opinion  of  the  East.  I  think  the  nearer  we  can 
get  to  the  community  that  it  is  desired  to  influence,  and  where  it  is 
necessary  that  we  shall  secure  co-operative  votes,  in  order  to  carry  into 
effect  our  desires,  the  better.  I  should  be  very  glad,  if  it  were  possible, 
if  a  meeting  like  this  could  have  been  held  in  the  city  of  New  York. 
Just  suppose  this  body  could  have  been  set  down  in  the  middle  of  the 
city  of  New  York  and  hold  its  sessions  there  and  present  its  arguments 
there  and  hold  these  debates  there.  They  would  have  had  ten  times  the 
effect  upon  the  community.  It  seems  to  me  that  by  going  very  far 
West,  we  fritter  away  our  influence.  There  is  no  place  I  would  rather 
go  to  than  to  Portland  or  Boise  City,  but  I  do  believe  that  we  would 
practically  lose  a  year  and  the  influence  of  this  organization,  by  taking 
the  organization  there.  I  think  we  should  get  near  to  the  communities 
we  wish  to  influence,  and  for  that  reason  I  shall  vote  for  the  place  that 
is  nearest  East  (applause). 

Senator  Johnston  :  In  my  judgment,  this  congress  is  more  a  congress 
for  solidifying  the  western  mind  than  it  is  for  proselyting  in  the  East. 
The  only  way  in  the  world  that  this  congress  will  ever  amount  to  any- 
thing, do  any  good  to  the  people  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  is  by 
presenting  a  united  front.  We  might  go  to  New  York  and  meet  there 
a  thousand  times  and  not  half  the  people  would  know  we  had  been 
there.  But  there  are  differences  of  opinion  among  ourselves.  The 
only  way  to  accomplish  anything  in  Congress  is  to  go  there  with  friends 
to  back  us  up,  and  we  must  go  there  with  a  solidified  front  in  order  to 
do  anything.  It  is  also  a  school  of  education  to  us  western  people,  to 
us  clod-hoppers  who  have  been  out  here  for  45  years.  We  want  to 
get  together  and  rub  off  the  rough  edges.  There  is  no  place  in  the 
world  whose  education  is  so  badly  needed  at  this  time  as  among  the 
western  people,  and  I  am  in  favor  of  going  to  the  Pacific  coast  with 
this  congress  and  educating  the  people  there.  They  know  just  as  much 
as  the  rest  of  us,  but  they  have  not  had  the  pleasure  of  our  company  up 
there  in  Portland.  We  could  have  more  influence  with  them.  Let  us 
go  up  there  and  solidify  this  western  sentiment  (applause). 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  249 

A  Delegate  (from  Iowa)  :  Iowa  seconds  the  invitation  to  Dubuque. 
Notwithstanding  she  is  so  badly  handicapped  by  the  eloquent  gentle- 
men from  the  Pacific  coast  and  other  places,  Iowa  is  amply  able  to  en- 
tertain you.  She  will  provide  lots  of  water  —  the  only  liquid  which  she 
manufactures.  If  she  fails  to  present  any  of  the  liquids  which  have 
been  presented  in  St.  Louis,  we  will  make  a  requisition  on  St.  Louis 
and  bring  it  there.  We  do  not  expect  to  win  this  battle,  nevertheless 
we  present  the  invitation  just  as  cordially.  If  you  want  a  central 
point,  I  think  the  recommendation  has  some  merit.  Minnesota  is  our 
near  neighbor,  and  while  speaking  on  this  subject  I  want  to  informally 
say  that  I  think  it  would  have  been  well  for  this  Trans-Mississippi  Con- 
gress, although  a  little  in  opposition  to  its  name,  to  have  included  the 
States  bordering  east  of  the  Mississippi  river  which  are  interested  in 
this  question  just  as  much  as  we  are,  viz.,  Illinois  and  Wisconsin. 
Minnesota  borders  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi  river.  She  is  repre- 
sented here,  leaving  out  Wisconsin  and  Illinois.  Illinois  presents  more 
front  on  the  Mississippi  river  than  any  other  State,  and  she  is  interested 
in  all  the  vital  questions  that  have  been  presented  in  this  congress,  and 
if  it  be  possible  for  this  convention  to  stretch  their  representation  and 
take  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  in  with  them,  I  think  it  ought  to  be  done. 

The  delegation  from  Utah  then  seconded  the  nomination  of  Boise 
City. 

Mr.  Butterfield  of  Oregon  then  addressed  the  convention  in  behalf  of 
the  city  of  Portland. 

The  vote  was  then  taken  and  resulted  in  the  selection  of  the  city  of 
Omaha  on  the  second  ballot. 

The  nomination  of  the  city  of  Omaha  was  then  made  unanimous. 

Mr.  Bryan:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  want  to  thank  the  members  of  the 
congress  for  making  this  selection  and  to  assure  them  that  we  will  try 
and  approach  as  near  as  we  can  to  the  hospitality  shown  by  St.  Louis. 

Mr.  Clarke  :  Mr.  Chairman,  I  rise  to  a  question  of  privilege.  I  hold 
a  resolution  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Committee  on  Resolutions.  I 
am  informed  that  the  copy  of  the  resolution  has  been  lost  and  it  is  not 
in  the  possession  of  the  Secretary.  I  sent  the  resolution  to  the  Chair 
and  asked  that  it  be  read  and  I  appeal  to  the  members  whether  or  not 
they  sustain  what  I  have  said. 

The  following  resolution  was  then  read  and  adopted  : — 

"  Besolved,  That  we  favor  the  cession  of  the  non-mineral  arid  lands  to  the 
States  and  Territories  in  which  they  are  situated,  and  that  we  favor  the  con- 
trol by  such  States  and  Territories  of  the  local  waters  for  irrigation." 

Mr.  Bryan  then  offered  the  following,  which  was  adopted : — 

"Besolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Congress  are  hereby  extended  to  its 
presidents,  H.  E.  Whitmore  and  Hon.  George  Q.  Cannon  for  the  fair  and  im- 


250  Report  of  Proceedings 

partial  manner  in  which  they  have  performed  the  duties  of  presiding  officers 
of  this  Congress,  and  also  to  Messrs.  Butterfleld,  Morgan  and  Edwards,  the 
Secretaries,  and  to  Charles  Freeman  Johnson,  the  official  stenographer,  for 
the  prompt  and  efficient  discharge  of  their  respective  duties  at  this  meeting." 

Ex-Gov.  Prince  then  offered  the  following  resolution,  which  was 
adopted : — 

11  Besolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Congress  are  hereby  extended  to  the 
representatives  of  the  press  for  the  fair  and  accurate  reports  of  the  proceedings 
and  the  aid  they  have  afforded  in  giving  Wide  publicity  to  the  acts  and  debates 
of  the  congress." 

At  this  juncture  a  number  of  resolutions  were  offered,  motions  to 
adjourn  sine  die  were  made  and  considerable  confusion  prevailed. 

Gov.  Prince:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  been  trying  to  get  in  a  resolu- 
tion here,  but  owing  to  the  confusion  I  have  put  it  in  my  pocket.  I 
have  an  announcement  to  make  with  regard  to  the  Irrigation  Conven- 
tion at  Albuquerque,  and  there  is  plenty  of  business  yet  to  be  done. 

A  Delegate  :  There  are  several  resolutions  here  that  have  been  held 
over  until  this  afternoon. 

Mr.  Bryan  :  My  attention  has  been  called  to  the  fact  that  there  are 
several  resolutions  reported  favorably  and  not  yet  acted  upon.  I  there- 
fore withdraw  my  motion  to  adjourn  sine  die  and  move  that  we  adjourn 
until  half-past  two  this  afternoon. 

This  motion  was  carried,  and  the  Congress  adjourned. 


Friday  Afternoon  Session. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  at  2 : 30  p.  m. 

The  Chairman:  The  time  having  arrived  for  the  convening  of  the 
Congress,  we  will  now  have  an  address  by  Mr.  John  F.  Cahill  of  St. 
Louis,  on  the  "  Commercial  Possibilities  of  Western  Waterways." 

Mr.  John  F.  Cahill  :  Delegates  to  the  Trans- Mississippi  Commercial 
Congress:  It  was  stated  b}T  your  worthy  retiring  President  at  the  open- 
ing of  this  Congress,  that  a  local  commercial  body,  composed  of  3,000 
members,  represented  only  one-half  of  one  per  cent  of  this  city's  popula- 
tion, while  the  delegates  appointed  by  our  city's  Chief  Executive  rep- 
resented the  remaining  ninety- nine  per  cent.  The  former  body  has 
accredited  to  this  Congress  forty-two  delegates,  while  the  city  proper 
has  but  ten;  so  that  the  basis  of  representation  —  the  fundamental 
principle  of  our  institutions  —  is  so  largely  out  of  proportion  —  so 
recklessly  ignored  in  this  case  —  that  a  delegate  who,  like  myself,  is 
charged  with  the  temporary  representation  of  ninety-nine  per  cent  of 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  251 

his  fellow-citizens  of  St.  Louis,  must  feel  no  small  degree  of  embarrass- 
ment in  accepting  such  a  responsibility. 

But  it  is  the  theme,  and  not  the  instrument,  it  is  the  sentiment  of 
our  whole  people,  and  not  the  multiplied  voice  of  a  small  minority,  that 
should  prevail  in  a  great  intellectual  conclave  of  this  character,  con- 
vened to  promote  the  nation's  welfare  by  carrying  into  effect  the  motto 
that  Missouri  has  borne  on  her  shield  for  three-quarters  of  a  century, 
that  "  the  welfare  of  the  people  must  be  the  supreme  law." 

In  afflictions  of  the  human  system,  the  best  physician  i3  he  who  can 
accurately  diagnose  the  disease,  remove  the  cause  with  the  least  deple- 
tion, and  vitalize  the  physical  powers  by  equalizing  and  vigorizing  the 
circulation. 

An  earnest  and  intelligent  attempt  to  discover  the  causes  of  disorder 
is  the  first  step  in  the  road  to  remedial  results. 

The  main  purpose  of  this  Congress  is  to  discover,  discuss  and 
endeavor  to  alleviate,  if  we  cannot  cure,  the  evils  that  afflict  our 
country.  Many  of  the  distinguished  members  of  this  Congress  are 
studious  specialists  who  have  devoted  time  and  means  to  the  investiga- 
tion of  the  evils  with  which  the  people  of  their  respective  localities  are 
burdened,  with  the  view  of  presenting  them  to  the  National  Congress 
and  justly  insisting  on  their  removal. 

We  who  dwell  on  the  banks  of  the  nation's  greatest  highway,  sym- 
pathize with  the  people  of  Colorado,  Washington,  Idaho,  Montana  and 
Wyoming  because  of  their  present  inability  to  utilize  the  great  treasures 
that  lie  in  their  silver  bearing  mountains ;  with  the  people  of  Kansas, 
Nebraska,  Texas,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Arkansas  and  golden  California, 
because  of  the  depression  in  the  prices  of  their  splendid  crops  and  the 
high  cost  of  transporting  them  to  the  markets  of  the  world ;  and  with 
the  young  and  vigorous  people  of  Utah,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  Okla- 
homa and  the  Indian  Territory  for  their  laudable  ambition  for  equality, 
as  sisters,  in  the  grand  galaxy  of  sovereign  States  ;  and  we  can  all  join  in 
one  sympathetic  effusion  when  we  come  to  consider  how  grossly  neglected 
have  been  our  God-given  birthright  —  the  free  waterways  of  the  West  — 
and  their  outlet  and  extension  to  the  seas  of  the  world  —  the  Nicar- 
agua canal.  I  would  like  to  dwell  on  this  latter  subject  if  the  time 
allotted  me  would  permit,  but,  as  its  benefits  and  vast  advantages 
to  the  people  of  the  U.  S.  have  already  been  ably  presented,  I  can  only 
add  a  God-speed  to  this  great  work  that  should  be  taken  up  and  car- 
ried to  speedy  completion  by  our  own  government  in  the  interests  of 
its  commercial  power  and  national  security. 

The  Transportation  Possibilities  of  Western  Waterways  is  the  special 
subject  to  which  I  will  now  ask  your  attention.  As  editor  of  a  bi-lin- 
gual  journal  for  17  years,  devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  our  commerce 
with  the  republics  of  Latin  America,  as  consular  representative  of  some 


252  Report  of  Proceedings 

of  these  interests  during  the  same  period  of  time,  as  one  who  had 
the  honor  of  giving  inception  to  the  Pan-American  Congress  and 
the  doctrine  of  inter- American  reciprocity  when  Jas.  G.  Blaine 
held  the  portfolio  of  State  in  1881,  as  an  American  who  has  resided 
among,  and  dealt  with,  these  Southern  republican  neighbors  of  ours 
for  nearly  30  years,  I  ask  you  to  consider  whether  such  credentials  may 
not  entitle  my  statements  to  credence  in  the  impartial  judgment  of  this 
great  Congress  of  Western  intelligence,  patriotism  and  enterprise. 

The  voice  of  this  mighty  valley  is  for  tonnage  —  cheap  tonnage  to 
bear  away  the  excess  of  productions  of  the  farm,  the  factory,  the 
forest  and  the  mine  to  foreign  parts,  and  bring  back  such  products  as 
we  need  in  exchange.  These  broad  acres,  that  seldom  fail  to  yield  a 
generous  harvest,  must  be  worked  up  to  further  capacity.  To  do  thisr 
ample  reward  must  be  given  the  tiller  of  the  soil  for  his  labor,  and  to 
the  miner,  manufacturer  and  merchant  for  their  industry  and  enter- 
prise. 

The  cereals  and  staples  that  abound  in  this  magnificent  domain,  which 
we  call  the  Mississippi  Valley,  must  bring  remunerative  prices  and 
encourage  the  farmer  to  sow  more  generously.  Next  only  in  impor- 
tance to  the  financial  question  is  that  of  transportation.  No  matter 
how  low  the  prices  or  how  poor  the  crops,  experience  teaches  that  there 
is  no  corresponding  changeability  in  the  cost  of  transportation,  domestic 
or  foreign. 

The  cost  of  carrying  a  bale  of  cotton,  to-day,  from  its  field  of  pro- 
duction in  the  Trans-Mississippi  region  of  the  Southwest  to  New  York  is 
$5.50,  or  more  than  $1.00  per  100  lbs.,  and  at  a  time  when  the  market 
price  of  the  staple  is  less  than  6  cts.  per  pound.  From  St.  Louis  to 
the  city  of  Mexico,  for  example,  the  cost  on  general  merchandise  by 
rail,  or  rail  and  water,  averages  $40.00  per  ton  or  $2.00  per  100  pounds. 
These  exhorbitant  rates  have  driven  away  from  the  West  the  trade  that 
could  be  built  up  with  the  countries  of  Latin  America  under  more 
favorable  conditions  of  transportation.  The  Latin  Americans  can  have 
goods  delivered  from  almost  any  of  the  European  ports,  4,000  miles 
distant,  for  $15  to  $16  per  ton;  —  hence  we  can  never  hope  for  this 
trade  in  the  Mississippi  valley  unless  our  waterways  are  utilized. 

One  of  the  chief  duties  of  the  hour  is  to  make  an  end  of  antiquated 
systems  that  are  inadequate  for  the  necessities  of  to-day  and  adopt  new 
and  better  appliances  in  the  machinery  of  commerce  that  will  cut 
down,  to  at  least  one-half  the  present  charges,  the  cost  of  transporta- 
tion to  and  from  the  great  centers  of  the  West  and  South.  Adhe- 
sion to  old  ideas  and  systems  in  marine  construction  is  one  of  the 
main  causes  of  our  present  troubles.  While  on  land  we,  of  the  We3t, 
have  contributed  our  share  in  supplying  the  country  with  intelligence 
and  inventions,  we  are  still  in  the  kindergarten  of  navigation  where  the 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  253 

instruments  of  commercial  power  are  to  be  found.  Because  of  the 
fact  that  we  have  not  learned  how  to  use  the  free  waterways  and  have 
substituted  for  them,  almost  exclusively,  the  costly  railways,  we  are 
now  paying  the  penalty.  Because  of  our  unwisdom  in  this  respect, 
we  have  in  this  rich  Trans-Mississippi  region  scores  of  thousands 
of  men  who  are  deprived  of  work  and  the  means  of  supporting 
their  families  —  men  who  tramp  the  country  in  vain  for  a  chance  to 
earn  their  bread  —  while  thousands  of  them,  broken,  discouraged  and 
demoralized,  are  compelled  to  become  the  desperate  nucleus  of  revo- 
lutionary forces  that  are  a  constant  menance  to  our  free  institutions. 

When  in  1803  the  genius  of  Thomas  Jefferson  broke  the  chain  that 
confined  our  young  republic  to  the  slopes  of  the  Alleghenies  and  gave 
us  this  magnificent  empire  we  proudly  style  the  Mississippi  Valley,  it 
could  never  have  entered  into  the  mind  of  the  author  of  our  political 
Magna  Charta  that  we  could  not  work  out  our  own  commercial  inde- 
pendence, or  that  such  a  mighty  system  of  inland  waterways,  embrac- 
ing some  20,000  miles,  of  which  the  Mississippi  is  the  central  artery, 
would  have  remained  practically  neglected  and  abandoned  for  nearly 
one  hundred  years,  to  be  supplanted  by  a  gigantic  system  of  expensive 
railway  monopolies  that  have  continued  to  absorb  the  economic  life- 
blood  of  the  people  of  this  republic  and  dominate  its  legislation. 

We  can  feed  the  world  from  this  valley  while  enricihng  ourselves 
if  our  representatives  at  Washington  insist,  unitedly,  upon  what  is 
to-day,  the  true  panacea  for  our  general  depression  in  trade. 

In  ten  or  twelve  years  the  government  has  frittered  away  about 
$12,000,000  on  the  Mississippi,  and  a  large  part  of  this  has  gone  to 
maintain  corps  of  engineers,  clerical  adjuncts,  commissioners,  etc., 
while  the  condition  of  the  river  remains  so  little  improved  that  the  light- 
est draft-boats  are  stranded  on  the  bars  between  this  City  and  Cairo 
during  the  low  water  season.  Large  and  liberal  appropriations  by  Con- 
gress in  the  improvement  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  chief  affluents 
should  be  demanded  by  our  western  representatives,  so  that  this  long 
neglected  work  may  be  continued  without  interruption  and  a  minimum 
depth,  of  not  less  than  ten  feet,  is  secured  and  maintained  between  St. 
Louis  and  the  sea  at  all  seasons. 

This  work  would  give  employment  to  labor,  encourage  the  farmer, 
the  artisan  and  the  merchant,  and  open  the  way  for  a  development  of 
commerce  between  the  Trans-Mississippi  region  and  the  outside  world 
that  would  add  hundreds  of  millions  annually  to  the  wealth  of  these 
great  and  growing  States.  But  while  this  work  is  pending  we  have  it 
in  our  power  to  utilize  the  genius  of  invention  and  assist  nature  by  the 
application  of  art,  in  a  new  and  ingenious  device  in  naval  construction. 
While  despairing,  in  our  long  wait,  of  the  great  river  ever  being  suffi- 
ciently deepened,  for  ocean-going  vessels,  we  have  undertaken  to  solve 


254  Report  of  Proceedings 

the  problem  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  save  millions  to  the  government, 
by  shallowing  the  ship.  The  commercial  instrument  I  refer  to  is  born 
of  the  conditions  of  the  great  rivers  of  the  West  and  is  specially  adapted 
to  the  commercial  demands  of  to-day. 

Before  closing  I  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  this  Congress  to  an 
invention  in  marine  construction  that  had  its  origin  in  this  city  and  is 
specially  designed  for  and  adapted  to  the  present  conditions  of  the 
Mississippi.  The  invention  is  known  as  the  "Lucas  Ship,"  and  con- 
sists of  a  combination  of  principles  that  constitute  an  ocean-going 
steamer  with  the  light  draft  and  large  carrying  capacity  of  a  river 
steamboat. 

Some  of  the  best  naval  architects  and  ship-building  experts  of  the 
country  have  given  their  indorsement  to  this  new  type  of  river  and 
ocean  craft,  and  plans  have  been  made  for  the  construction  of  a  ship 
of  3,200  tons  of  the  following  dimensions:  Length  230  ft.,  beam  40 
ft.,  depth  18  ft.,  net  freight  capacity  1,200  tons  on  7  ft.  and  2,000 
tons  on  9  ft.  of  water. 

The  vessel  is  to  be  supplied  with  an  adjustable  keel,  in  three  sec- 
tions, that  can  be  dropped  to  any  required  depth  when  in  the  ocean  and 
raised  to  a  level  with  the  bottom  of  the  hull  when  navigating  shallow 
waters.  Ordinary  ocean  vessels  of  this  size  and  tonnage  require  20 
or  more  feet  of  water  and  are,  therefore,  unable  to  ascend  the  Missis- 
sippi or  other  rivers  similarly  conditioned,  or  to  navigate  shoal  waters. 
There  are  numerous  rivers,  inlets  and  shoal  waters  all  along  the  gulf- 
coast  of  Mexico,  where  this  type  of  vessel  could  be  profitably  and 
effectively  used  in  carrying  the  products  of  our  industries 
to  those  neighboring  markets  and  returning  direct  to  our 
wharves  with  cargoes  of  coffee  and  other  tropical  products  with- 
out transfer,  re-handling,  delay  or  damage  to  goods.  The  cost  of 
transporting  freight  by  this  new  system  would  be  considerably  less 
than  one-half  the  present  charges,  as  it  would  involve  no  rail  transport- 
ation, the  cost  of  which  is  2 J  cents  per  ton  per  mile,  while  all  water 
transportation  is  only  4  mills  per  ton  per  mile.  Such  a  vessel  is 
admirably  adapted,  not  only  for  ocean  service,  but  for  service  on  the 
rivers  of  South  and  Central  America,  which  are  the  chief  avenues  of 
transportation  in  those  countries.  A  company  was  organized  to  pro- 
mote this  enterprise,  a  few  years  ago,  but  the  adverse  financial  condi- 
tions of  the  country  intervened  to  prevent  the  enterprise  from  securing 
the  means  to  build  the  first  ship.  It  attracted  wide  attention  because 
of  its  being  pregnant  with  the  promise  of  converting  every  interior 
river  town  in  the  west  into  a  seaport,  for  all  practical  purposes ;  and  it 
received  the  indorsement  of  numerous  naval  experts  and  commercial 
organizations  throughout  the  country,  among  which  was  the  National 
Board  of  Trade  at  its  last  session  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  255 

In  view  of  the  importance  of  this  invention  I  will  offer  the  following 
resolution  and  request  for  it  the  favorable  action  of  this  convention  :  — 

Whereas,  The  question  of  cheap  transportation  lies  at  the  base  of  commer- 
cial prosperity,  and, 

Whereas,  The  Mississippi  River  and  its  tributaries  constitute  the  national 
highway  to  the  sea  and  afford  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  more  than 
20,000  miles  of  free  water  tranportation  by  which  they  can  send  their  products 
to,  and  receive  their  supplies  from,  the  markets  of  the  world ;  and 

Whereas,  The  invention  of  a  vessel  especially  designed  and  adapted  for  the 
navigation  of  those  inland  water-courses,  as  well  as  the  ocean,  having  been 
critically  examined  and  approved  by  competent  naval  experts  and  engineers  as 
entirely  practicable  and  calculated  to  do  away  with  the  transfer  and  re-handling 
of  freight  and  the  expenses  and  delays  incidental  thereto,  therefore 

Besolved,  That  the  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress  recognizes  in  the 
Lucas  ship  project  the  promise  of  a  solution  of  one  of  the  great  commercial  prob- 
lems of  the  age,  viz. :  cheap  and  direct  all-water  transportation  to  and  from  the 
markets  of  the  world,  and  recommends  this  enterprise  to  the  special  considera- 
tion of  our  representatives  in  congress,  at  Washington,  to  the  end  that  an 
appropriation  be  granted  to  test  the  merit  of  the  invention. 

The  resolution  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Resolutions. 

Gov.  Prince  :  A  few  days  ago  we  passed  a  resolution  favoring  the 
use  of  American  products  in  the  U.  S.  Navy.  Mr.  Black  of  Washing- 
ton State  is  going  to  Washington,  and  he  takes  great  interest  in  this 
subject.     I  therefore  offer  the  following  resolution : — 

Besolved,  That  Mr.  A.  L.  Black,  of  the  State  of  Washington,  be  hereby  ap- 
pointed to  present  to  the  Honorable,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  the  resolution 
of  the  Congress  favoring  the  use  of  American  products  in  the  U.  S.  Navy. 

Adopted. 

Gov.  Prince  :  While  I  am  on  the  floor,  I  desire  to  perform  a  duty, 
which  I  have  postponed,  of  announcing  the  Irrigation  convention  to 
take  place  in  the  City  of  Albuquerque,  N.  M.,  and  extending  an  invita- 
tion to  all  members  of  the  Congress  to  be  present  at  that  time.  It 
is  the  National  convention  on  that  subject  —  the  adjournment  of  the 
one  which  took  place  this  year  in  Denver.  It  will  be  the  occasion  of  a 
great  deal  of  interest  to  all  of  us  who  live  in  the  different  portions  of 
New  Mexico.  We  propose  to  have  side  trips  to  other  portions  of  the 
Territory  and  will  endeavor  in  every  way  to  make  your  stay  pleas- 
ant. We  extend  this  invitation  heartily  in  the  name  of  the  people  of 
New  Mexico. 

It  was  then  announced  that  the  Executive  Committee  would  meet 
immediately  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Congress  in  the  room  of  the 
Committee  on  Resolutions  in  the  front  of  the  building. 

Resolutions  were  then  introduced  asking  the  indorsement  of  the 
congress  of  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the  International  Deep  Water 
Association  convention  recently  held  in  Toronto. 


256  Report  oj  Proceedings 

Mr.  Smith  (of  Iowa) :  At  this  convention  in  Toronto  delegates 
were  present  from  every  province  of  Canada  and  from  15  States  of  the 
United  States.  They  desire  to  have  the  channel  deepened  from  the 
great  lakes  of  Superior  and  Michigan,  so  that  products  can  be  shipped 
from  the  lakes  to  Liverpool.  We  desire  to  have  a  court  established  by 
mutual  consent  of  the  British  Government  and  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  to  hear  and  determine  this  question.  We  want  cheap 
transportation  from  the  headwaters  of  the  Mississippi  river,  to  increase 
the  .power  of  the  Mississippi  river,  that  the  products  of  the  North  may 
be  carried  to  the  South,  and  the  products  of  the  South  carried  to  the 
North.  These  are  the  objects  sought  to  be  indorsed  by  this  convention. 
It  goes  to  the  very  meat  and  marrow  of  cheap  transportation.  This 
matter  has  received  the  indorsement  of  more  than  26,000,000  people 
of  the  United  States  and  the  people  of  Canada,  and  I  come  as  a  special 
delegate  from  that  body  to  this  body  and  ask  your  indorsement.  I 
trust  no  gentleman  here  will  raise  his  voice  against  it,  because  it  will 
help  the  people  of  the  United  States.  I  ask  unanimous  consent  for  the 
indorsement  of  this  resolution  by  this  convention. 

Mr.  Castle:  It  is  growing  very  late  in  our  session  and  this  appears 
to  be  a  very  important  matter.  I  understood  that  it  was  reported 
unfavorably  by  the  sub-committee. 

Mr.  Smith  :  No,  sir ;  it  was  reported  favorably. 
It  was  then  moved  and  seconded  that  the  matter  be  referred  to  the 
Executive  Committee,  to  be  reported  upon  at  a  future  time. 

Mr.  Whitmore  :  The  gentleman  understands  that  that  committee  can 
make  no  report  to  this  session  of  the  Congress. 
This  motion  was  then  carried. 

Mr.  Black:  Mr.  Chairman,  we  are  about  to  adjourn.  The  work 
done  between  now  and  the  next  congress  will  decide  largely  what  the 
character  and  personnel  of  the  congress  will  be/  Personally,  lam  very 
much  in  favor  of  newspapers  and  I  believe  that  it  would  do  more  to 
excite  interest  in  the  next  congress  than  anything  else,  if  we  could  have 
some  sort  of  an  organ  run  in  the  interest  of  this  congress  —  that  it 
would  be  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  this  congress  and  do  much 
toward  making  the  next  session  of  this  congress  a  successful  session. 
I,  as  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee,  would  not  feel  justified  in 
voting  at  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  on  a  proposition  of  this 
kind,  unless  this  congress  in  session  shall  so  empower  us  to  do,  and  I, 
therefore,  move  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution: — 

Besolved,  That  we  favor  the  publication  of  a  periodical  in  the  interest  of  the 
Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress,  and  refer  the  matter  to  the  Executive 
Committee,  with  power  to  act. 

This  motion  was  seconded  and  unanimously  carried. 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  257 

President  Cannon:  Before  we  adjourn  I  wish  to  say  that  I  think  our 
friend  and  efficient  stenographer,  Mr.  Charles  F.  Johnson,  deserves 
many  thanks  from  this  congress  for  his  close  attention,  the  diligence 
and  zeal  and  fidelity  with  which  be  has  attended  not  only  to  his  duty 
here,  but  in  keeping  the  run  of  the  business.  I  feel  myself  that  we  are 
under  many  obligations  to  him,  and  I  am  personally,  for  his  attention. 
I  wish  to  repeat  my  sense  of  obligation  to  him  since  I  have  been  in  the 
Chair. 

Ex-Governor  Prince  :  We  are  greatly  indebted  for  the  success  of 
this  congress  and  our  pleasant  sojourn  in  this  city  to  the  Merchants' 
Exchange  of  St.  Louis,  the  largest  commercial  body  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  as  well  as  to  the  various  organizations  which  have  extended 
to  us  a  like  invitation.     I  desire  to  offer  the  following  resolution : — 

Besolved,  That  the  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress  hereby  expresses 
its  grateful  appreciation  of  the  public  spirit,  generosity  and  efficient  action  of 
the  Merchants  Exchange  and  other  Business  Organizations  of  St.  Louis,  as 
shown  in  the  ample  provision  and  convenient  arrangements  which  they  have 
made  for  the  requirements  and  the  entertainment  of  the  Congress,  and  of  the 
courtesy  and  generous  hospitality  which  has  been  extended  by  the  citizens  of 
St.  Louis  both  collectively  and  individually  to  the  delegates. 

Adopted. 

Mr.  Black:  Each  State  should  report  two  Executive  Committeemen, 
one  for  one  year  and  one  for  two  years.  There  has  been  no  report  made 
except  as  to  who  are  Executive  Committeemen,  but  they  do  not  state 
who  are  intended  for  one  year  and  who  for  the  two-year  term.  It 
might  save  trouble  if  we  have  it  at  this  time. 

The  names  of  the  Vice-Presidents  and  Executive  Committeemen 
were  then  read  so  far  as  reported. 

Mr.  Fisk:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  learn  that  the  resolution  on  the  sugar 
bounty  was  adopted  by  the  Committee  on  Kesolutions.  If  there  is  anj' 
member  here,  I  would  like  to  be  set  right  if  that  is  not  so.  I  am 
unable  to  learn  that  it  has  ever  reached  the  Secretary's  desk  and  been 
passed  upon  by  this  congress,  and  I  would  like  permission  to  read 
that  and  have  it  considered.  I  am  told  by  members  of  the  Committee 
that  it  was  adopted  in  full  Committee  and  that  it  never  reached  the 
Clerk's  desk,  and  I  will  now  read  it: — 

Whereas,  The  United  States  imports  1,600,000,  tons  of  sugar  yearly  for 
which  it  pays  $150,000,000;  and, 

Whereas,  The  tariff  laws  of  1890  provided  that  a  bounty  of  2  cents  per 
pound  should  be  paid  for  all  sugar  manufactured  in  the  United  States  until  the 
year  1905  and  that  foreign  sugar  come  in  free ;  and, 

Whereas,  By  reason  of  this  low  treaty  stipulations  were  entered  into  with 
the  sugar  producing  countries  to  the  south  of  us  whereby  their  ports  were 
open  to  the  free  entry  of  many  of  our  farm  products ;  and, 


258  Report  of  Proceedings 

Whereas,  By  the  terms  of  the  bounty,  our  citizens  were  induced  to  make 
large  investments  in  sugar  plants  and  long  time  contracts,  and, 

Whereas,  The  repeal  of  this  bounty  has  closed  the  ports  of  these  countries 
to  the  free  entry  of  our  products,  to  the  detriment  of  the  agricultural  classes 
and  to  the  great  injury  to  those  who  were,  by  the  terms  of  the  law,  induced  to 
make  large  investments  and  enter  into  long  time  contracts;  therefore,  be  it 

Besolved,  That  Congress  be  requested  to  restore  the  bounty  as  it  existed  in 
the  tariff  law  of  1890. 

Mr.  Savage  (of  Kansas) :  Mr.  Chairman,  two  days  ago,  when  this 
congress  had  full  delegations  present,  a  resolution  was  introduced  to 
pay  the  farmer  a  small  bounty  on  staple  products  shipped  out  of  this 
country.  It  was  ascertained  at  that  time  that  the  sentiment  of  this 
meeting  was  against  it  and  it  was  referred,  to  come  up  at  our  next  regular 
meeting.  Now,  to-day,  at  this  moment,  we  have  in  attendance  not  over 
one-eighth  of  the  delegates ;  they  have  gone  home  and  it  seems  to  me 
unfair  for  the  congress  at  this  time  to  pass  that  resolution  when  seven- 
eighths  of  the  members  have  gone.  It  will  not  be  a  fair  expression  of 
this  congress,  and  I  move  you  it  be  referred  to  the  Executive  Committee 
to  pa3s  on  at  our  next  regular  meeting  at  Omaha. 

Mr.  Marshall:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  was  Secretary  of  the  Committee 
on  Resolutions,  and  I  think  the  gentleman  is  mistaken  in  his  statement 
That  resolution  was  never  approved  by  the  Committee  on  Resolutions 
We  never  got  it.  It  was  referred  to  a  sub-committee.  That  sub-corn 
mittee  killed  it.  We  have  never  reported  it  back  to  the  convention 
There  are  at  least  fifty  resolutions  that  went  to  the  different  sub-corn 
mittees  and  they  never  came  back  to  the  House.  We  never  reported 
favorably  on  that  resolution. 

The  Chairman  :  The  only  ground  upon  which  it  can  be  introduced 
or  entertained,  is  a  supposition  that  the  Committee  on  Resolutions 
adopted  it.  If  that  is  not  the  case,  of  course  it  has  no  standing.  It 
cannot  be  entertained  now. 

Mr.  Craig:  Would  it  not  be  quite  parliamentary  to  bring  that 
resolution  upon  its  merits  and  let  this  congress  pass  upon  it?  I  move 
now  that  it  be  placed  in  the  immediate  position  of  being  passed  upon. 

The  Chairman  :  There  is  a  resolution  already  taking  precedence  of 
that,  that  this  resolution  be  referred  to  the  Executive  Committee. 

This  motion  was  seconded  and  carried. 

M.  J.  Donovan  (of  California) :  Mr.  President,  I  have  a  resolution 
that  I  would  like  to  introduce,  that  I  think  is  in  the  interest  of  the 
Trans-Mississippi  Congress.  With  your  permission  I  will  read  it 
from  my  place  on  the  floor. 

"Besolved,  That  the  Executive  Committee  be  authorized  by  a  two -thirds 
vote  when  in  session,  or  two-thirds  of  the  members  signing  a  paper  indorsing 
the  same,  to  perform  any  work  that  may  in  their  judgment  further  the  action 
or  suggestions  of  this  congress  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  259 

My  reason  for  offering  that,  gentlemen,  is  this :  the  committee  will 
not  meet  for  a  year,  or  ten  months  at  least.  There  have  been  many 
important  things  passed  by  this  congress,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  it 
is  but  meet  and  proper  and  just  that  the  executive  body  of  this  con- 
gress, the  only  thing  that  lives  after  we  adjourn,  may  have  the  power 
and  right  to  do  things,  to  adopt  necessary  resolutions  and  take  neces- 
sary measures  to  have  the  suggestions  and  the  deeds  of  this  congress 
placed  properly  before  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  follow 
up  to  that  ultimate  success  that  we  all  of  us  desire. 

This  motion  was  duly  seconded  and  carried. 

Mr.  Whitmore  :  One  of  the  members  of  the  Executive  Committee 
has  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  considerable  work  has  been  laid 
out  by  the  Committee,  which  may  make  it  necessary  to  raise  some 
funds.  An  announcement  of  the  new  plan  of  organization  will  be  sent 
to  all  delegates,  and  we  desire  them  to  make  an  endeavor  to  see  that 
the  funds  for  the  organization  are  forthcoming  from  the  commercial 
organizations  of  their  respective  States. 

A  motion  was  made  that  the  congress  adjourn  sine  die. 

President  Cannon  :  Before  adjourning,  the  Chair  desires  to  express 
thanks  to  the  Congress  for  the  courtesies  extended  to  him  and  to  con- 
gratulate the  Congress  on  the  harmony  of  its  proceedings  and  the 
solidity  with  which  it  attended  to  it3  business.  In  accordance  with  the 
motion  which  has  been  made,  this  Trans-Mississippi  Congress  now 
stands  adjourned,  to  meet  at  Omaha  at  the  call  of  the  Executive 
Committee. 


( 


RESOLUTIONS 

ADOPTED  BY 


The  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress 

AT  ITS   SEVENTH  SESSION, 

HELD  AT 

ST.  LOUIS,  NOVEMBER  26th-30th,  1894. 


Nicaragua  Canal. 
Resolved,  That  the  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress  respect- 
fully and  urgently  requests  legislative  action  on  behalf  of  the  prompt 
construction  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  under  the  control  and  supervision 
of  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

West  Indies  and  South  America  —  Extension  of  Trade. 
Besolved,  That  this  convention  recommend  the  encouragement  by 
Congress  of  more  extended  trade  relations  with  the  West  Indies  and 
with  the  Republics  of  South  America,  in  so  far  as  such  relations  can  be 
extended  by  friendly  legislation. 

American  Railways,  Trans-Pacific  Steamships  and  Pacific  Coast 
Cities  —  Discrimination  against. 
Resolved,  That  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  be  requested  to 
investigate  the  alleged  discrimination  against  American  railways,  Amer- 
ican Trans-Pacific  steamships  and  American  Pacific  Coast  cities  by  the 
privilege  given  to  United  States  consuls  outside  of  the  United  States 
to  pass  goods  to  the  points  of  destination  without  appraisement  or 
inspection. 

American  Products  —  Use  in  the  U.  S.  Navy. 

Resolved,  That  we  approve  the  true  American  ideas  of  the  Hon.  H. 

A.  Herbert,  Sec'y  of  the  Navy,  in  fostering  and  using  American  as 

distinguished  from  foreign  supplies,  and  we  do  further  recommend  that 

a  departmental  order   or  proper  legislation  be  made  that  will  insure 


262  Report  of  Proceedings 

the  use  of  American  coal  and  American  products  in  the  United  States 
Navy  where  the  same  can  be  done  without  material  loss  to  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

Mississippi  River  Commission  —  Approval  of  Work  of. 

Resolved,  That  we  approve  of  the  experiments  made  by  the  Mississippi 
River  Commission  for  the  removal  of  obstructions  by  the  use  of 
dredges  and  portable  jetties  in  order  that  that  plan  may  be  thoroughly 
tested. 

Alaska  —  Laws. 

Resolved,  That  this  Congress,  representing  the  interests  of  the  great 
West,  do  most  earnestly  petition  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  to 
pass  such  laws  as  will  insure  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Territory  of 
Alaska  protection  to  landed  interests,  a  proper  administration  of  law  and 
order  throughout  the  territory,  and  the  extension  of  mail  facilities  into 
the  Yukon  river  district,  to  Northwestern  Alaska  and  Fish  river  districts. 
To  carry  out  this  resolution  we  earnestly  ask  that  a  commission  be 
appointed  at  the  next  session  of  Congress,  of  which  the  governor  of 
the  Territory  shall  be  an  ex-officio  member,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to 
visit  the  different  sections  of  the  Territory  and  to  render  a  report  to 
Congress ;  and  that  such  recommendation  take  due  form  of  law  by 
appropriate  legislation. 

Duluth  Harbor  —  Appropriation. 
Resolved,  That,  in  view  of  the  great  agricultural  resources  of  the 
northern  part  of  the  great  Trans-Mississippi  regions,  Congress  should 
appropriate  sufficient  money  to  increase  the  depth  of  the  water  in  the 
harbor  of  Duluth  from  sixteen  feet,  its  present  depth,  to  twenty  feet, 
the  Government  standard. 

Hennepin  Canal  —  Appropriation. 
Resolved,  That  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  Canal,  known  as  the  Hen- 
nepin,   and   connecting   the  Mississippi   river   and  the  lakes,  should 
receive  a  sufficient  appropriation  annually  from  Congress  to  speedily 
finish  the  work. 

Texas  Coast  —  Deep  Water  Appropriations. 
Resolved,  That  this  convention  through  its  Secretary  request  all  mem- 
bers of  the  United  States  Congress  from  the  Trans-Mississippi  States  to 
favor  liberal  appropriations  for  deep  water  on  the  Texas  coast. 

Classification  of  Mineral  Lands  in  Northern  Pacific  Land  Grant. 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  the  United 

States  Congress,  from  the  several  Trans-Mississippi  States,  be  requested 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  263 

by  this  Congress  to  give  their  hearty  support  to  House  bill  No.  3,476 
(which  having  passed  the  House  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Senate 
Committee  on  Public  Lands),  providing  for  the  examination  and  classi- 
fication, as  to  their  mineral  character,  of  the  lands  on  the  odd  numbered 
sections,  within  the  limits  of  the  grant  to  the  Northern  Pacific  Rail- 
road, in  the  States  of  Montana  and  Idaho ;  and  to  assist  in  passing 
similar  bills,  in  aid  of  the  other  mining  States  and  Territories,  in  which 
are  vast  quantities  of  mineral  lands,  still  unpatented,  on  the  odd- 
numbered  sections,  within  the  limits  of  the  railroad  grants. 

Hydraulic  Mining. 
Resolved,  That  this  Congress  heartily  indorses  the  recommendation 
of  the  Miners'  Convention,  recently  held  in  San  Francisco,  regarding  the 
urgency  of  the  appropriation  for  the  construction  of  dams  in  the  mutual 
interest  of  hydraulic  mining  and  navigation,  and  further  urges  upon 
Senators  and  Representatives  the  extension  of  similar  provisions  to 
other  States  and  Territories  where  similar  conditions  may  now  or  here- 
after exist. 

Mining  Schools  —  Support  of. 
Resolved,  That  Senators  and  Representatives  be  urgently  solicited  to 
secure  the  passage  of  an  amendment  to  the  bill  passed  by  the  National 
Congress  at  its  last  session,  providing  that  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  pub- 
lic lands  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  $12,000,  in  each  State  designated 
in  said  bill,  shall  annually  be  applied  to  the  support  of  Mining  Schools 
and  Mining  Investigations,  extending  the  application  of  said  bill  to  all 
the  Territories  in  which  mining  is  an  important  industry. 

Mining  Laws  —  Amendment  to  Sec.  2,335  U.  S.  Mining  Act. 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  Congress  of  the  Trans-Mississippi 
States  be  requested  to  aid  in  securing  the  following  amendment  to  the 
United  States  Mining  Act,  to  wit,  to  add  to  section  2,335  the  following 
words : — 

Provided,  That  all  applicants  for  patent  for  lands  upon  which  a 
mineral  location  has  been  made  and  notice  of  such  location  recorded, 
must,  except  when  otherwise  in  this  act  provided,  give  to  such  mineral 
claimant  notice  of  said  application,  in  writing,  if  possible,  or  otherwise 
by  notice  of  publication  in  a  newspaper,  published  in  the  county 
wherein  such  lands  are  situated,  at  least  once  a  week  for  sixty  days. 

And  provided  further,  That  any  contest  arising  from  the  charac- 
ter of  the  land  as  mineral  or  non-mineral,  shall,  upon  the  application 
of  any  party  in  interest,  and  within  ninety  days  from  the  service  of 
such  notice,  in  writing  or  last  day  of  such  newspaper  publication,  be 
referred  to  a  court  of  competent  jurisdiction  for  determination ;  and 


264  Report  of  Proceedings 

suit  by  either  party  shall  be  commenced  within  thirty  days  after  such 
reference  has  been  made;  and  upon  the  filing  of  a  certified  copy  of  the 
final  judgment,  as  determined  by  the  procedure  of  the  State  in  which 
the  trial  is  had,  patent  shall  issue  accordingly. 

Silver. 

Whereas,  An  appreciating  money  standard  impairs  all  contracts, 
bankrupts  enterprises,  makes  idle  money  profitable  by  increasing  its 
purchasing  power  and  suspends  productive  forces  of  our  people ;  and 

Whereas,  The  spoliation  consequent  upon  the  outlawry  of  silver  in 
the  interest  of  the  creditor  class,  by  constantly  increasing  the  value  of 
gold,  is  undermining  all  industrial  society,  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  we  demand  the  immediate  restoration  of  the  free 
and  unlimited  coinage  of  gold  and  silver  at  the  present  ratio  of  sixteen 
to  one,  without  waiting  for  the  aid  or  consent  of  any  other  nation  on 
earth. 

Currency. 

Resolved,  That  in  direct  opposition  to  the  plan  known  as  the  Balti- 
more plan,  the  sense  of  this  convention  is  that  all  issues  of  paper 
money  should  be  by  the  general  Government. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  Congress  that  the  pending 
proposition  for  a  reformation  of  our  paper  currency  is  one  that  in  our 
judgment  would  create  additional  and  perhaps  insurmountable  difficul- 
ties to  the  return  to  bimetallism,  and  that  we  are  opposed  to  the  same. 

That  in  any  currency  reform  acted  upon  we  demand  that  a  constitu- 
ent part  thereof  shall  be  the  remonetization  of  silver,  or  that  it  shall  be 
of  such  a  character  as  to  be  no  impediment  to  our  return  to  bimetallism 
as  it  existed  prior  to  1873. 

Deep  Water  Harbor  at  San  Pedro,  California. 

Whereas,  Upon  the  completion  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal,  a  deep  water 
harbor  on  the  southern  coast  of  California  is  indispensable  to  the  com- 
mercial and  naval  necessities  of  the  country,  there  being  no  adequate 
harbor  facilities  between  San  Diego  and  San  Francisco,  a  distance  of 
six  hundred  miles  of  sea  coast ;  and, 

Whereas,  The  United  States  Government,  through  its  corps  of  army 
engineers,  has,  by  its  several  boards  in  exhaustive  reports  unanimously 
selected  San  Pedro  Harbor  as  the  most  eligible  site  for  such  deep 
water  harbor,  and  the  only  practicable  harbor  of.refuge  between  the 
points  Dume  and  Capistrano,  as  required  by  Act  of  Congress ;  and, 

Whereas,  There  is  an  interior  harbor  at  San  Pedro,  which  has  been 
improved  by  the  Government  under  direction  of  its  engineer  corps, 
and  which  has  a  dock  frontage  of  more  than  two  miles  in  extent, 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  265 

Therefore,  Be  it  Resolved  by  this  Trans- Mississippi  Congress,  That 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  at  its  coming  session  be  urged  to 
provide  for  the  construction  of  this  deep  water  harbor  at  San  Pedro  as 
already  determined  by  the  several  Acts  of  Congress,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  several  recommendations  of  the  Boards  of  United  States  Army 
Engineers  (as  shown  by  Executive  Documents  Nos.  39  and  41  of  the 
Fifty-Second  Congress,  first  and  second  sessions),  and  that  the  further 
improvement  of  the  interior  harbor  at  San  Pedro  be  earnestly  recom- 
mended. 

Upper  Mississippi  River  Improvement. 
Resolved,  That  this  Congress  urge  such  continuous  appropriation 
by  the  Government  for  the  improvement  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  River 
as  shall  maintain  the  present  improvements  intact,  and  add  such  new 
ones  as  shall  be  needed,  including  dredging  and  jetties  so  far  as  prac- 
ticable. 

Ramie  —  Its  Cultivation. 
Resolved,  That  the  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress,  advocat- 
ing a  diversification  of  our  national  industries,  recognizing  the  great 
textile  value  of  Ramie  and  its  luxuriant  growth  in  our  Gulf  States,  and 
believing  that  recent  improvements  in  mechanical  and  chemical  pro- 
cesses of  preparing  the  fibre  will  render  the  production  of  this  useful 
staple  a  profitable  domestic  industry,  recommend  the  cultivation  of 
this  plant  to  our  Southern  States  as  a  new  and  important  source  of 
textile  wealth. 

Oakland  Harbor  —  Improvement  of. 
Resolved,  That  we  recognize  the  injury  that  has  been  done  to  the 
City  of  Oakland  and  its  commercial  interests  by  the  long  delay  in  com- 
pleting the  improvement  of  its  harbor,  and  we  urge  upon  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  not  only  on  economic  grounds,  but  also  because 
of  its  imperative  necessity,  that  an  appropriation  sufficient  to  finish 
the  work  be  at  once  made,  and  that  Oakland  be  also  made  a  port  of 
delivery. 

California  Rivers  and  Hydraulic  Mining. 

Whereas,  The  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  rivers,  the  great  water- 
ways of  California,  are  threatened  with  destruction  by  debris  from 
hydraulic  mining ;  and 

Whereas,  The  filling  of  the  channels  of  these  rivers  by  such  debris 
causes  immense  injury  to  adjacent  farming  lands;  and 

Whereas,  Discontinuances  of  such  mining  prevents  the  output  of 
large  quantities  of  gold  and  the  community  suffers  from  lack  of  the 
money  which  should  be  made  of  th£t  gold ;  and 


266  Report  of  Proceedings 

Whereas,  The  National  Government  can  cope  with  these  conflicting 
conditions  ;  now  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  As  the  sense  of  this  Congress  that  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  should  make  sufficient  appropriations  for,  and  cause  to 
be  done  such  work  of  impounding  mining  debris  as  may  permit 
hydraulic  mining  without  its  causing  injury  to  the  navigable  waters  of 
this  State  and  to  adjacent  lands,  and  should  provide  necessary  appro- 
priations for  improving  and  maintaining  the  navigation  of  such  streams. 

Fare  alone  Cable. 

Whereas,  The  Farralone  Islands  are  situated  West  of  the  entrance 
to  San  Francisco  Harbor,  about  twenty-eight  (28)  miles,  and  are  the 
only  guardians  and  watchmen  of  the  entrance  to  the  Golden  Gate  ;  and 

Whereas,  The  commercial  interests  of  the  city  and  harbor  at  San 
Francisco  require  cable  connection  between  the  Farralone  Light  House, 
Weather  Bureau  and  the  United  States  Signal  Station ; 

Resolved,  That  Congress  be  urgently  requested  to  make  provision 
for  the  introduction  of  a  bill  to  provide  for  an  appropriation  for  the 
construction  of  a  United  States  Submarine  Cable  from  a  point  on  the 
mainland  adjacent  to  San  Francisco  Harbor,  to  the  Farralone  Islands. 

Hawaiian  Cable. 

Whereas,  The  history  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  shows  that  their  civ- 
ilization and  development  are  the  result  of  the  energy  and  progress  of 
the  United  States  to  such  an  extent  that  they  are  to-day  pre-eminently 
an  American  colony,  and  that  they  depend  for  their  future  progress  and 
for  the  maintenance  of  their  civilization  upon  their  connection  with  this 
country ;  and 

Whereas,  The  commerce  of  Hawaii  is  almost  exclusively  with  the 
Pacific  Coast  States  of  the  United  States,  and  large  investments  of 
capital  belonging  to  United  States  citizens  have  been  made  from  time  to 
time  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands ; 

Resolved,  That  this  Trans-Mississippi  Congress  respectfully  calls  the 
attention  of  all  United  States  Congressman  and  Senators  to  the  imper- 
ative necessity  of  the  immediate  construction  of  a  Submarine  Cable 
between  a  point  on  the  Pacific  Coast  of  the  United  States  and  the 
Hawaiian  Islands. 

Carey  Bill  —  Extension  to  Territories. 
Resolved,  That  Congress  be  earnestly  requested  to  pass  an  Amend- 
ment to  the  Carey  Act  (which  donates  1,000,000  acres  of   the   arid 
lands  to  each  State  in  which  they  are  located),  extending  the  provisions 
of  that  Act  to  the  Territories. 


Trans- Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  267 

Territories  —  Enabling  Acts. 
Resolved,  That  we  earnestly  urge  upon  Congress  at  its  coming  ses- 
sion to  pass  Enabling  Acts  providing  for  the  admission  of  Oklahoma, 
New  Mexico  and  Arizona  into  the  Union  as  States.  The  admission  of 
these  Territories  into  Statehood  would  greatly  promote  their  material 
prosperity,  add  to  the  wealth  and  strength  of  the  Nation,  and  vest  in 
the  people  of  said  Territories,  the  powers  of  local  self-government  to 
which  they  are  justly  entitled. 

Indian  Territory  —  Territorial  or  State  Government  with  Oklahoma. 
Resolved,  That  the  alarming  condition  of  affairs  which  exists  in  the 
Indian  Territory  is  a  constant  menace  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  the 
people  of  the  surrounding  States,  an  obstruction  to  interstate  com- 
merce, and  a  disgrace  to  our  civilization.  The  tribal  governments  of 
that  Territory  have  signally  failed  to  observe  the  requirements  of  exist- 
ing treaties  with  the  United  States,  and  to  protect  from  robbery  and 
violence  the  lives  and  property  of  the  people.  We  believe  with  the 
Dawes  Commission,  that  the  lands  of  the  Five  Tribes,  now  monopolized 
by  the  few,  should  be  allotted  in  severalty  to  all  the  members  of  the 
tribes,  the  tribal  governments  abolished,  and  the  Indians  made  citizens 
of  the  United  States.  To  this  end  we  favor  the  prompt  provision  by 
Congress  for  a  State  and  Territorial  government  over  the  allotted  lands, 
complete  court  jurisdiction,  and  the  uniting  of  all,  or  a  part  of  said 
lands  with  Oklahoma  in  a  single  Statehood. 

Non- Mineral  Lands  —  Cession  to  States  and  Territories. 
Resolved,  That  we  favor  the  cession  of  the  non-mineral  arid  lands  to 
the  several  States  and  Territories  in  which  they  are  situated,  and  that 
we  favor  the  control  by  said  States  and  Territories  of  the  local  waters 
for  irrigation. 

Uncompahgre  and  Uintah  Indian  Commissions. 

Whereas,  By  Act  of  Congress,  dated  August  16,  1894,  the  Executive 
Department  of  the  United  States  was  authorized  to  appoint  commis- 
sioners to  negotiate  with  the  Indians  on  the  Uncompahgre  and  Uintah 
reservations  in  Utah,  with  a  view  to  the  opening  of  said  reservations  to 
settlement  by  home-seekers,  and 

Whereas,  The  delay  in  putting  said  Act  in  operation  is  detrimental 
to  the  development  and  progress  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  region, 

Now,  Therefore,  Be  it  Resolved,  That  this  Trans-Mississippi  Com- 
mercial Congress  hereby  urges  upon  the  Executive  Department  of  the 
National  Government  the  necessity  of  immediate  action  in  accordance 
with  said  Act  of  August  16,  1894. 


268  Report  of  Proceedings 

National  Grange  —  Committee  of  Five  to  Attend. 

Whereas,  The  National  Grange  Patrons  of  Husbandry,  representing 
the  largest  body  of  organized  farmers  of  the  United  States,  with  organi- 
zations and  membership  in  nearly  every  State  in  the  Union,  in  a  spirit 
of  equity  has,  by  resolution,  decided  to  call  a  conference  of  the  lead- 
ing industries  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the  Tariff  and  Monetary 
questions ;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  Trans-Mississippi  Congress  assembled  at  St. 
Louis,  Mo.,  does  hereby  appoint  a  committee  of  five  to  be  selected  by 
the  Chairman  of  this  convention  to  attend  the  said  Conference. 

Missouri  River  Commission. 

Whereas,  The  Congress  of  the  United  States  did  at  its  last  session 
appropriate  various  sums  for  the  protection  of  valuable  property  and  to 
prevent  the  destruction  of  long  established  lines  of  interstate  traffic 
communication  by  the  ravages  of  the  Missouri  river,  and, 

Whereas,  The  sum  of  $35,000  was  appropriated  for  the  protection 
of  property  and  to  prevent  the  destruction  of  the  bridge  connecting 
the  States  of  Missouri  and  Kansas  at  the  city  of  Atchison,  which 
bridge  has  been  for  many  years  a  highway  for  interstate  commerce, 
and, 

Whereas,  The  expenditure  of  these  appropriations  has  been  com- 
mitted to  the  care  of  the  Missouri  River  Commission,  which  body  fails 
to  perform  the  trust  imposed  upon  it ; 

Therefore,  Be  it  resolved,  That  this  Congress  request  the  United 
States  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress  from  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  States  to  secure  speedy  action  by  said  Missouri  River 
Commission,   and 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  to  the 
Senators  and  Representatives  and  the  Honorable  Secretary  of  War. 

Puget  Sound  —  Defense  of. 

Resolved,  That  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  is  urgently 
requested  to  take  immediate  steps  for  the  adequate  defense  of  Puget 
Sound  by  means  of  war  vessels  regularly  stationed  there  and  by  suita- 
ble fortifications  on  the  shore. 

Executive  Committee  to  Act  During  Interim. 
Resolved,  That  the  Executive  Committee  be  authorized  by  a  two- 
thirds  vote  when  in  session,  or  by  two-thirds  of  the  members  signing  a 
paper  indorsing  the  same,  to  perform  any  work  that  may,  in  their 
judgment,  further  the  action  or  suggestions  of  this  Congress  in  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States. 


Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress.  269 

Publication  of  a  Periodical. 
Resolved,  That  we  favor  the  publication  of  a  periodical  in  the  interest 
of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress,  and  refer  the  matter  to 
the  Executive  Committee,  with  power  to  act. 

A.  L.  Black  —  To  Proceed  to  Washington. 
Resolved,  That  Mr.   A.  L.  Black,  of  the  State  of  Washington,  be 
hereby  appointed  to  present  to  the  Honorable,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  the  resolution  of  the  Congress  favoring  the  use  of  American 
products  in  the  U.  S.  Navy. 

Actions  of  the  Congress  —  Presentation  to  U.  S.  Congress. 
Resolved,  That  the  President  of  this  Congress,  the  Hon.  George  Q. 
Cannon  and  the  Hon.  W.  J.  Bryan,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions,  be  instructed  to  present  to  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  at  its  forthcoming  session,  and  other  proper  bodies,  the  various 
actions  of  this  Congress. 

Thanks  —  To  the  Press. 
Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Congress  are   hereby  extended  to 
the  representatives  of  the  Press  for  the  full  and  accurate  reports  of  the 
proceedings,  and  the  aid  they  have  afforded  in  giving  wide  publicity  to 
the  acts  and  debates  of  the  Congress. 

Thanks— To  Officers. 
Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Congress  are  hereby  extended  to 
its  Presidents,  H.  R.  Whitmore  and  Hon.  Geo.  Q.  Cannon,  for  the  fair 
and  impartial  manner  in  which  they  have  performed  the  duties  of  pre- 
siding officer,  and  also  to  Messrs.  Butterfield,  Morgan  and  Edwards, 
the  Secretaries,  and  to  Mr.  Chas.  F.  Johnson,  the  official  stenographer, 
for  the  prompt  and  efficient  discharge  of  their  respective  duties. 

Thanks  — .To  the  Business  Organizations  and  Citizens  of  St.  Louis. 
Resolved,  That  the  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress  hereby 
expresses  its  grateful  appreciation  of  the  public  spirit,  generosity  and 
efficient  action  of  the  Merchant's  Exchange,  and  other  business  organ- 
izations of  St.  Louis,  as  shown  in  the  ample  provision  and  convenient 
arrangements  which  they  have  made  for  the  requirements  of  the  Con- 
gress, and  of  the  courtesy  and  generous  hospitality  which  has  been 
extended  by  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  both  collectively  and  individually, 
to  the  delegates. 


INDEX. 

Page. 

Plan  of  Permanent  Organization 1 

Officers iii 

List  of  Delegates . . . . v 

List  of  Business  Organizations  Appointing  Delegates xiv 

Opening  Addresses 1 

Selection  of  Committees 13 

Resolution  on  Renewal  of  Commercial  Treaty  with  West  Indies 16 

Resolution  on  Protection  of  Staple  Agriculture 17 

Resolution  on  Tariff  Commission 18 

Beet  Sugar  Industry  —  Remarks  of  S.  T.  Hamilton 21 

Report  of  Committee  on  Order  of  Business 29 

Irrigation  —  Address  of  Prof.  F.  H.  Newell,  U.  S.  Geological  Survey 34 

Address  of  Hon.  El  wood  Mead  of  Wyoming 36 

Address  of  Hon.  Wm.  E.  Smythe 43 

Committee  on  Resolutions 50 

Discussion  of  Report  of  Committee  on  Rules  and  Order  of  Business  51 

Report  of  Committee  on  Permanent  Organization 59 

Bimetallism  —  Address  of  Hon .  Jno.  F.  Shaf roth 62 

Address  of  Hon.  L.  Bradford  Prince 72 

Address  of  Hon.  Geo.  E  Leighton 95 

Address  of  Hon.  Wm .  J.  Bryan . .    121 

Address  of  Hon.  Geo.  T.  Anthony 128 

Resolution  on  Staple  Agriculture,  Discussion  of 153 

Remarks  of  D.  Lubin,  Esq 158 

Remarks  of  Hon.  Frank  J.  Cannon 164 

Report  of  Committee  on  Resolutions  on  Silver  and  Currency,  Discussion  of  180 

Report  of  Executive  Committee  on  Plan  of  Organization 194 

Hawaii  —  Address  of  Hugh  Craig,  Esq 197 

Nicaragua  Canal  —  Address  of  Prof.  Courtenay  De  Kalb 206 

Paper  by  Capt.  W.  L.  Merry 221 

Paper  by  Prof.  Sylvester  Waterhouse 225 

Resolution  Recommending  Cultivation  of  Ramie  and  Statement  Regard- 
ing it 233 

Majority  and  Minority  Reports  Regarding  Indian  Territory. 235 

Address  of  Hon.  Sidney  Clarke 236 

Selection  of  Next  Place  of  Meeting 244 

Address  of  Mr.  John  F.  Cahill,  on  Commercial  Possibilities  o£  Western 

Waterways 250 

Resolution  on  Sugar  Bounty 257 

Summary  of  Resolutions  Adopted 261 


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